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Luckiest UK city for lottery jackpot wins revealed – does your postcode make the list?
Compiling an official list of all winners since the National Lottery’s launch in 1994 – hopeful players can now check how their hometown compares to others across the UK
The National Lottery has named the luckiest spots in the UK to scoop one of their incredible jackpots.
Compiling an official list of all winners since the Lottery’s launch in 1994 – they named Birmingham and Watford as the hotspots for bagging big prizes.
Of the 6,800 millionaires made since it launched in 1994, 205 are from the Birmingham area.
That is streets ahead of the 174 from second-luckiest Belfast, and 158 in third-placed Glasgow.
Watford has the highest number of Lotto millionaires per head of adult population with 1 in 4,878 people enjoying seven-figure wins.
Mum-of-two Celeste Coles, 69, from Birmingham, won £3,665,079.10 on July 12 last year, after buying a last-minute ticket.
The retired teacher, who was born in Barbados, got herself a ticket via The National Lottery App just moments before sales closed ahead of the draw.
She knew she was in for a “big win” when she realised she had matched five main numbers plus one Lucky Star.
At a special event to toast Birmingham as the UK’s luckiest city, she said: “It’s been an amazing year, winning the lottery is truly life-changing.
“I have been able to treat my family and buy a holiday home in Spain which will mean we can all create more memorable moments together.
“Something which would never have happened without the win.
“Congratulations to all the Brummie winners so far, hoping for lots more in the future.
“I’ve always known we are a lucky city, and everyone should remember that it could be you, as long as you have a ticket in your pocket.”
Northerners appear to be luckier than southerners, meanwhile, with fourth place Sheffield having 150 Lotto millionaires.
Newcastle and Liverpool come in joint fifth place with 136 millionaires each, beating Manchester who have 133.
Cardiff is seventh with 126, while Peterborough came in eighth with 119.
Midlanders came joint ninth with Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham; all with 102 big-money winners.
Tenth in the Lotto league table is Doncaster with 96 newly rich residents.
The south has enjoyed its own luck, with Guildford and South East London adding 20 new millionaires to their totals over the last three years.
Between last April and March this year, a whopping 383 millionaires were made – an average of more than one a day.
Figures reveal that millionaires made per head of adult population put Watford, Motherwell and Romford joint first with one mega Lotto winner for less than 5,000 adults.
The top 10 also features St Albans, Hull, Harrow, and Durham.
For prizes of more than £50,000 across all lotto games, including instant wins and scratchcards, Romford has had the most winners per head of population.
One in every 755 players in the Essex town has banked a big prize.
The tiny Scottish town of Galashiels is second with one in every 864 adults enjoying a bumper payout.
Cleveland comes third with one in every 875 residents winning big.
Medway, Newport, Bromley and Sunderland have also made it into top 10 for £50,000 winners.
Kathy Garrett, Winners Experience Lead at The National Lottery said: “ It is wonderful to witness the incredible difference a big win can make to the lives of a winner and the people they care about.
“We travel to every corner of the country paying out big winners so I know there is luck in every corner of the UK and just having a ticket means it could be you next.”
Top 10 luckiest places in the UK (by millionaires made since launch)
1. Birmingham – 205
2. Belfast – 174
3. Glasgow – 158
4. Sheffield – 150
5. Liverpool, Newcastle – 136
6. Manchester – 133
7. Cardiff – 126
8. Peterborough – 119
9. Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham – 102
10. Doncaster – 96
Millionaires made in the last three years
1. Sheffield – 38
2. Belfast – 36
3. Birmingham – 35
4. Glasgow – 26
5. Manchester – 24
6. Newcastle – 23
7. London (South East), Guildford – 20
8. Peterborough, Cardiff – 19
9. Liverpool – 18
10. Leicester, Bristol, Doncaster, Portsmouth, Southampton, Kilmarnock – 16
Millionaires per head of adult population since launch
1. Watford – 1 in 4,878
2. Motherwell – 1 in 4,939
3. Romford – 1 in 4,953
4. Liverpool – 1 in 5,211
5. Dumfries – 1 in 5,330
6. St Albans – 1 in 5,598
7. Hull – 1 in 5,703
8. Harrow – 1 in 5,824
9. Durham – 1 in 5,887
10. Wolverhampton – 1 in 5,890
Winners (£50k+) per head of the adult population since launch
1. Romford – 1 in 755
2. Galashiels – 1 in 864
3. Cleveland – 1 in 875
4. Medway – 1 in 896
5. Liverpool – 1 in 942
6. Newport – 1 in 944
7. Warrington – 1 in 945
8. Bromley – 1 in 952
9. Newcastle – 1 in 952
10. Sunderland – 1 in 967
Winners (£50k+) per head of adult population in the last three years
1. Perth – 1 in 6,927
2. Sutton – 1 in 7,304
3. Stevenage – 1 in 8,336
4. Newport – 1 in 9,308
5. Kirkcaldy – 1 in 9,473
6. Dumfries – 1 in 9,841
7. Romford – 1 in 9,906
8. Darlington – 1 in 9,977
9. Carlisle 1 in 10,274
10. Motherwell 1 in 10,537
