A SECRET jackpot lottery winner may be living in Tadcaster, Camelot has confirmed.

The town has been abuzz with gossip since a poster was tacked up in the window of Sainsbury’s, in Mill Lane, saying “Winning Jackpot Ticket Sold Here”. Despite plenty of speculation, the winner has remained elusive and under National Lottery guidelines, all recipients of Lottery windfalls have to agree to publicity before Camelot can confirm a date the winning ticket was bought and amount won.

However, a spokesperson for Camelot confirmed the lucky winner had matched six numbers on the ticket and said it could have been anything from £700,000 up to £10 million.

Paula King, spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s, said: “We’ve all been trying to figure out who it is, but Camelot won’t divulge the amount or the identity of the winner. And we’ve not seen anyone come in with a new suntan and a big car.”

Camelot spokesperson Anya Reynolds confirmed the poster was genuine. “It could have been someone local or someone just passing through, but the ticket was definitely sold in Tadcaster Sainsbury’s.”

She said the posters gave local businesses a boost even when the winner wanted to stay anonymous. She said: “When retailers sell a lucky ticket the winner is asked if they want to go public or not.

“On this occasion they said they didn’t, but were more than happy to give the shop publicity. “We can’t disclose their identity – but we can say that the ticket was sold in August 2008 – we always wait at least three months before notifying shops to protect anonymity and let the dust settle.”

In November last year, we reported how a mystery National Lottery winner from York was tracked down – and is now £220,629 richer. The money was paid into the account of the lucky ticket-holder after lotto bosses joined up with The Press and sent out a plea for help to trace them.