SEARCHERS for the missing £2 million Lotto ticket have been warned by a health official not to go poking about in Derrumera dump, near Newport, Co Mayo.
Mr Cathal Kearney, Environmental Health Officer for Mayo, said anyone searching the tip head was more likely to contract a serious disease than unearth the lost quick pick ticket.
Searchers have diverted their attention from Croachaun Mountain in Achill to the dump between Newport and Castlebar following reported comments by a Connemara man, Mr Padraig O Tuairise, that he believes the lost ticket is buried beneath the rubbish in the landfill site.
Mr Kearney said. "Dumps are the most unhealthy places you can imagine. Even in well controlled tip heads there is a resident population of rats. It's a place where you can get a quick pick of whatever infectious diseases you want."
Mr Kearney pointed out that a person died recently in Ireland from Weil's disease, which is carried in rats' urine. "Weil's disease is only one of a cocktail of serious diseases which can be contracted in dumps," he added.
A call was made yesterday to the National Lottery to donate the £2 million prize to the Achill Deserted Village project if it is not claimed.
Mr Michael McNamara, joint treasurer of the Deserted Village project, thinks it only fair the money should come to the island if nobody comes forward with the winning slip.