If you fancy your chances at winning the National Lottery, but can't get to a newsagent or a computer in time to buy your ticket, fear not, because from today you will be able to place your one-in-14-million-chance bet by mobile phone. The service is a result of National Lottery operator Camelot's promise to use interactive services to sell tickets which it made when rebidding for the contract.

To play, punters need to register their name and debit card details by phone or online. The site also requires date of birth, home address and email address details. Once the account is set up, you just text the name of the game you want to play - Lotto, Euro Millions or the Daily Play games - and your lottery numbers to 61111 (check Camelot's site before doing this, and make sure you've registered.) Each message costs 20p to send, and the entry fee is deducted from your debit account. Winners will be notified by text.

Over half a million people have signed up to buy lotto tickets online, Camelot says, and its weekly revenue from online and interactive TV sales is now at £1.5m. Ticket sales are also on the rise again, with the figures for the last six months showing a 4.7 per cent rise on last year. ®

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