Daily Express owner Richard Desmond’s Health Lottery has raised less than half its funding target one year after launch.

The alternative lottery has raised £24.5m for local health charities, rather than the projected £50m, according to The Independent.

Ticket sales, projected to have earned £250m by now, have earned £119m.

Desmond, who also owns Channel 5 and a number of other media outlets, launched the Health Lottery with a £50m investment last year.

Since then, the Health Lottery has been embroiled in a string of disputes with Camelot, owner of the National Lottery.

One of Camelot’s complaints has been that the Health Lottery, which runs a number of regional draws, has been promoted nationally by Desmond's media outlets.