A SHOE shop manager wants to tell the world he is NOT the well heeled winner of a £4m scratchcard jackpot after being repeatedly mistaken for the lucky lotto player.

A mystery man bagged the staggering early Christmas bonus with a scratchcard bought from the Spar shop in Bedale, North Yorkshire, last week, but opted for no publicity.

Staff in the shop, being the soul of discretion, are staying tight lipped about whether or not there has been a winner, but The Northern Echo understands the customer had won £5 on one scratchcard and reinvested the money to scoop the £4m jackpot.

Rumours have been rife in the town ever since and after word leaked out that it was a man in his early thirties with a beard and a cheerful disposition, the spotlight fell on 32-year-old Andrew Lock, manager of the Adrian Morpeth shoe shop, only a couple of doors from the Spar.

"It's amazing," he said. "I have had loads of people coming in asking for a loan, or congratulating me.

"These are people of all ages, and they were all pretty surprised I was still here - they thought I would be off on a Caribbean island sunning myself and pondering how I was going to spend the money.

"The thing is while I love the job, I'm pretty sure if I had won that kind of cash I wouldn't be sitting in a shoe shop.

"So I would just like to say it isn't me, I am very sad to say. I suppose I should be flattered that everyone thinks it is me, as it is supposed to be a guy with a cheerful disposition."

A spokesman for Camelot UK, which runs the lottery, said as the winner had opted for no publicity he could neither confirm or deny a win in the Bedale area.

But town mayor Amanda Coates said: "This isn't the first lottery win we've had in the town.

"I just want to say congratulations and wish whoever it is good luck for the future and hopefully he will stay and invest his money in the area."