An airline passenger ate his £8,930 winning scratch card after he was told he could not claim the money immediately, it has emerged.

The unnamed man was flying with Ryanair from Krakow in Poland to East Midlands Airport when he won 10,000 euros with the scratch card.

Crew on board the flight confirmed he had won the prize but told the passenger he would have to collect the jackpot directly from the company that runs the competition as it was such a large sum.

Ryanair said the man then became frustrated and started to eat his winning ticket, ruling out any chance he had of claiming the prize money which will now be donated to charity.

Stephen McNamara, a spokesman for the airline, said: "Passengers have always been delighted to claim their large cash prizes after returning home.

"Unfortunately our latest winner felt that we should have his 10,000 euros prize kicking around on the aircraft."

The airline is now asking passengers to vote online to decide where the money should go, after the win on Thursday. Voting will take place until March 5 at www.ryanair.com.