THE hunt is on for the mystery woman who has won £57,000 from a betting shop in Porthmadog.

Betfred are hoping to track the woman down by 5.30pm on Thursday, 31 December so she can claim her consultation prize after placing an £8 bet on the Irish Lottery at the shop on 18 December around midday.

The Porthmadog bookies is keen to find the woman, who is described as having blonde hair, between the age of 45 – 55 years old, wearing a blue or white coat.

Since the prize was announced on Boxing Day posters have been put up around the town and security cameras have been checked in a bid to find the mystery winner Betfred have nicknamed the ‘Porthmadog Pimpernella’.

Betfred boss Fred Done said: “From such a small wager this lady has won £57,000 which will give her a brilliant start to the New Year.

“We want her found ASAP.

“I have asked my staff to do their utmost to locate her. Already identifying this customer is the talk of the town."Mr Done added that 20 posters have been put up in shops all along the high street to help trace the woman.A staff member said they remember speaking to the woman when she placed the bet and noticed an ID badge around her neck and that she was wearing a gingham patterned uniform.

The amount in the consolation fund is rolled over from weekly draws during the ten week promotion. £500 and £1,000 prizes were drawn by Fred each Saturday morning and any unclaimed went into the rollover fund.

By Boxing Day the amount in the rollover fund had reached £57,000 and Betfred is determined the big winner from Porthmadog is found by the New Year’s Eve deadline.

Peter Spencer, public relations executive at Betfred said: “We are determined to find this winner in Porthmadog.

“Our staff at the store have asked their customers to turn detective and to help track her down.

“We know for certain she is a local and one of our staff members has seen her visit the shop on a few occasions.

“It is a possibility she may have thrown the ticket away not realising they could have gone into the consolation prize.

“We really do hope we can track her down but we need the communities help to do it!”