Sazka Group has hired City advisers to prepare an offer to take the licence from Camelot in 2023.

A spokesman for Sazka which runs national lotteries in Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Austria and the Czech Republic said: ‘Sazka Group has a proven track record in taking on established lotteries and making them better, which would position it well for any potential bid for the UK’s National Lottery.’

A source close to the competition described Sazka as the ‘dark horse’ among the frontrunners to bid against Camelot.

Francaise des Jeux, the newly privatised French state lottery operator, and the former media baron Richard Desmond are also understood to be in the running.