Baker's son Patrick McErleam claimed he was rolling in dough yesterday, saying he won 15 million on the British National Lottery.

But mystery is surrounding his new multi-millionaire status after UK lottery chiefs failed to confirm his jackpot.

Mr. McErleam, a waiter at the Hamilton Princess, told The Royal Gazette about his winning ticket yesterday.

He said his mother, at home in Northern Ireland, picked his numbers for him for last Saturday's televised draw.

She is said to have rung on Sunday night, telling her delighted son about his massive scoop.

But Mr. McErleam, who has lived in Bermuda for 15 years, has vowed not to give up his job as a waiter at the Princess's Harley Restaurant, where he earns his crust.

And he opted not to be photographed when approached yesterday.

The 34-year-old said: "I really don't want any publicity. The money is going in the bank and that is it.

"I'm not going to do anything with it. I'm just going to continue with my life as it is.'' Mr. McErleam's parents, who live in County Antrim, have retired from their jobs as bakery store owners.

He added: "I don't even have a clue what the winning numbers were. All I know is that my mother filled in a ticket for me and now I'm going to put my winnings in the bank.

"It won't change me in any way. I had friends over visiting and I gave them a few dollars, telling them to ask my mum to do the lottery for me.

"It was just a one-off, actually. I left it to her to pick the numbers and then she called me on Sunday. I had been working and missed her call but she caught me later on.'' Mr. McErleam, who lives in Warwick, spent his early years living in the Isle of Man, before moving to Bermuda to work in restaurants as a 19-year-old.

A spokeswoman for Camelot, who run the UK lottery, was unable to confirm he struck the jackpot last night.

Karen Findlay said: "We're only able to confirm details of winners who sign a form saying they do not object to publicity -- and that's only 15 percent of them.

"I cannot even confirm that a winning ticket was bought in County Antrim. But certainly, the winning amounts just don't seem to add up.

"The jackpot was 7 million last week, which was shared by five people, and 7.5 million the week before, shared by eight. We've recently had jackpots of 7.6 million and 8.6 million and there was a 13 million jackpot on July 5.

"But we haven't had a 15 million winner for several months, so I'm not sure what is going on.'' The head waiter at Harley's gave Mr. McErleam the day off yesterday -- moments after he came in to pick up his weekly pay cheque.

He claimed too many people were rushing to congratulate their colleague, so he "couldn't do his work properly''.

Hamilton Princess Manager Peter Komposch added: "I have heard about Patrick's win but I'm unable to confirm anything. I don't know if it's true and the only way I could confirm it would be if I spoke to him directly, which I haven't done yet. If he has won the money, we are very pleased for him and we congratulate him. And we would be glad if he wanted to stay employed by us.'' Human Resources Director Jermaine Trott confirmed Mr. McErleam had already been to see her to ask if he could keep his job.

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