West Midlands a lottery hotspot
The Black Country was today revealed as the top lottery hotspot for the last quarter of 2006 with more than £20 million in prize money paid out.
The West Midlands with 166 new millionaires as whole is a lucky Lotto hotspot, with Birmingham leading the way ahead of all other cities in the UK. Since the Lottery's launch in 1994 £771,191,257 has been paid out across the region, plus £259,561,482 in the Birmingham area alone.
For another year the Birmingham postcode holds top spot in generating the most number of millionaires in the UK.
But if you cross the M5 the recent luck has been in the Black Country. Between September and December 2006 the Black Country was the place to buy a lottery ticket with nearly £20m won in prize money.
It started with Josie Timmins and husband Mick of Dudley who won a jackpot of £2,010,267. Then came Irene and Ronald Jones of Bilston, who won a Lotto Jackpot of £9,355,603 in the Triple Rollover draw in October 2006.
Just 48 hours later Brenda Portch of Kingswinford won £1,487,099 and to end the year on a high, an 18-strong syndicate from Arecelor Steel SSC, Willenhall, won a £5,061,750 share of the EuroMillions jackpot.
Birmingham continues to hold the top spot for the highest number of major prize-winning entries worth £50,000 or more and the biggest payout of larger prizes since the launch, with a total prize payout of £259,561,482. The city is followed in both of the above categories by Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Sheffield ranks third for the highest number of major prize-winning entries and Glasgow is third for biggest payout of larger prizes.
When it comes to the postcode area with the highest number of millionaires since the launch of The National Lottery, Birmingham continues to reign supreme, followed by Glasgow in second place, Manchester and Sheffield in joint fourth position, and Newcastle fifth.
A National Lottery spokesperson said: "With over three-quarters of a billion pounds paid out since the lottery started and an amazing 164 millionaires living in the area, it's clear that luck lives in the West Midlands."
At the end of November,a salesman who ducked out of a syndicate at Willenhall firm Arcelor Auto Processing missed out on a prize .
Nick Goodyear, a sales director paid for Peter Scarff's lottery ticket. They and 17 other members shared a £5.2 million windfall, netting £288,000 each.
But salesman Chris Tibbetts told syndicate organiser Karen Medley "I've got better things to do with my £1.50.", paving the way for a worker from the finance department who was approaching retirement to take his place.
A vote was later taken by the group on whether to share their payout with Mr Tibbetts but they decided against taking a £15,200 drop each to include him.
