THERE was speculation in the UK last night that the third and final winner of a share of the £42 million payout from last week's British National Lottery double roll over draw may be a foreigner.
The lucky ticket holder, like the first two, requested no publicity when staking a claim to the £14 million payout, the Lottery promoter, Camelot, said last night.
The draw prompted huge interest in Ireland, with hundreds of tickets purchased from news agents here who trade in tickets via courier services to Northern Ireland.
A Camelot spokeswoman said it is not known whether the winner was a syndicate or an individual. No other information was available, she said.
When asked why it had taken so long for the winner or winners to come forward, she said: "It could be the amount of money. It could be that they are camera shy. We really don't know."
It is not known how the winner contacted the lottery organisers, but it was confirmed that the cheque was paid out yesterday.
Officials had waited for the telephone to ring since the draw on Saturday night.
It was estimated the winner, who had 180 days to claim the mammoth prize, was losing £2000 a day in interest because of the delay.
But the accrued cash was instead being divided between the good causes supported by the lottery.
It was thought that whoever scooped the huge payout may have been on holiday, or a works syndicate which had not checked its numbers after the weekend.
There was further speculation that it may even have been a foreign player or syndicate, attracted by the huge prize but unfamiliar with the game.