Britons flocked online to play the National Lottery amid the pandemic after high street ticket sales plunged by half a billion pounds during the coronavirus crisis.

Nigel Railton, boss of operator Camelot, said there had been a “seismic shift” to digital, with its fortunes contrasting sharply with lottery peers overseas.

French ticket sales fell 10pc, Italy was 30pc lower and Spanish numbers collapsed more than 50pc, he said.

National Lottery sales initially fell 18pc “overnight” as the virus hit, Mr Railton said.

However, they bounced back quickly as the public became accustomed to playing online.

An increase in digital sales of £455m over the six months to September almost wiped out a fall of £500m on the high street, he added.

This meant figures for the six months to September were at near-record levels. The company had its second-best half-year on record, posting sales of £3.9bn, down 1.7pc on the same period in 2019.

Mr Railton said advertising was changed to promote playing the National Lottery online.

And new initiatives were set up for members of the public that typically bought their ticket in person.

“It sounds simple but we set up tutorials to show people how to play online,” the Camelot chief executive said.

The Gambling Commission kicked off a tender process to run the National Lottery from 2023 in what is expected to be the most hotly contested battle since Sir Richard Branson duked it out with Camelot in the late 1990s and early 2000s

Camelot, which has run the showpiece since its launch in 1994, confirmed for the first time that it plans to participate in the auction.

Mr Railton said: “We are still working through the process so it is not definite. But yes, we expect to bid.”

The Watford-based operator, owned by a Canadian pension fund, will face opposition from Czech billionaire Karel Komárek, who secured €500m (£450m) from Wall Street investment firm Apollo Global Management to help bankroll his National Lottery bid.

Media mogul Richard Desmond and Indian conglomerate Sugal & Damani are also in the running. Sir Richard Branson pulled out of the running as Covid hit.

The fall in lottery sales on the high street came as retailers overall have seen their worst conditions for five months after England’s latest lockdown closed non-essential shops on November 5.

The CBI’s latest high street snapshot showed a 25pc balance reporting sliding sales (the difference between those reporting an increase and those suffering a decrease ), the worst since May.

The survey, which took in the first 10 days of the lockdown, also showed internet sales hitting a two year high as shoppers turned online to spend.

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, highlighted a 58pc slump in footfall in the week to November 14. He added: "The CBI's survey almost certainly understates the impact that November’s lockdown has had on retail sales."