A WREXHAM pensioner with a winning bingo ticket has been left frustrated and disappointed after his "house" call fell on deaf ears.

Geoffrey Braithwaite, 70, from Abenbury Park, went to Mecca Bingo on Smithfield Road with his wife and five other family members on Saturday, October 6, as part of the celebrations for him turning the big three score and ten.

Mr Braithwaite said he was playing a game called Poppy Power, in aid of the Royal British Legion, when the last number he required, a top of the tree, number three, was called and he made a shout to claim what he thought was a £300 prize.

He said: "The caller obviously didn't hear me shout as he carried on to the next number and it was at that point that everyone else on our table started shouting for him to stop the game.

"There must have been a couple of hundred people playing at the time, and some of them clearly heard me, but the caller was adamant he hadn't, so the game carried on until someone else won the prize instead."

It was only afterwards that Mr Braithwaite found out his winning ticket was actually worth £600, as the number three was also his bonus number which meant the prize would have been doubled.

He added: "I couldn't believe it to be honest. I don't go to the bingo that often, maybe only five or six times a year, and I've never won more than £50 and even then, that was only once, so it feels like a kick in the teeth to have won, only to be told the caller didn't hear me shout.

"During the interval, another player came over to ask what had happened and when I explained the situation, they said they'd heard my call, so I don't know why the caller hadn't."

Mr Braithwaite said bingo wasn't such a big thing for him and and his family and it was really just an excuse to get together with family and have a good night out, but he finds the way the incident has been handled by Mecca has left a sour taste.

"My wife said to me the other day, that it makes you think about not wanting to go there in future, because something about it just doesn't seem right."

After making a complaint to staff at the hall, Mr Braithwaite was eventually offered £100 from an area manager as a goodwill gesture, as well as free tickets to go back there to play again, which he says is like adding insult to injury.

A spokesman for Mecca Bingo said: "Mr Braithwaite was playing our charity game in aid of the Royal British Legion, Poppy Power. It is the responsibility of the player to stop the game before the next number is called in order to win.

"Unfortunately Mr Braithwaite didn't manage to stop the game before another number was generated. This means that another player won the prize money instead.

"We would of course be happy to discuss this further with Mr Braithwaite as part of the industry gaming dispute resolution process."