A prize draw to support Frome Town FC has had to be pulled - and everyone will be offered a refund - after thousands of postcards arrived as part of the competition.

In a little known aspect to competition rules, there must always be a way people can win a prize without donating any money.

This led several people to send cards to the club as a way of taking part.

Frome Town FC still thought they could cover costs since there were only a handful of free entries.

In a statement to Nub News, Scott Fitzgibbon - Marketing & Communications Director for the club said: "I know people will be disappointed in the end result of the campaign. We really set out to try and make this campaign a reward to the fans, something for their support during the last Crowdfunder.

"It's only been made possible by a great partner in The Platinum Motor Group. People will focus on how it ended, but we'll be focusing on the sheer amount of good will from the local community and beyond that did come in. We'll learn and keep trying to find new ways to support our club, Fair Frome and the local community. I know it whatever is next will be great as we'll always strive to make it eye catching, engaging and something everyone in Frome can be proud of."

Over 450 people had bought tickets or donated as the club offered fans a chance to win the car. But then over two thousand postcards were delivered to The Robins - from an entrant in Frome - which were all eligible to win and meant the draw was could potentially mean that the club would make NO money.

You can read the full statement from the club on what forced them to pull the prize draw by clicking HERE : the Frome Town FC site

Now the club, as it aims to refund all those who did buy tickets, faces the prospect of losing money.

The club has been swamped with free entries and said today (September 1) that it had no choice but to end the competition. In their statement they wrote: " We appreciate times have been difficult, but we knew something was wrong, we had lost the community spirit and engagement around the draw, that was so prevalent in our previous year's campaign. We had become a faceless online competition to far too many people. "

The club has now started a separate fundraiser for themselves and Fair Frome, here. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/donatetofrome

The rule for entry for a prize draw is " If participants must pay to enter a prize draw, or make a purchase which reflects the opportunity to participate, a free entry route, or a 'no-purchase necessary' ("NPN") will be required in the UK generally, to ensure that the promotion is not an illegal lottery."