Oldham tops Premium Bond winners list

Oldham has been named as Britain's luckiest town for Premium Bond winners.

Oldham has been named as Britain's luckiest town for Premium Bond winners.

The Greater Manchester town had more top winners as a proportion of Premium Bonds held than anywhere else in the country, snatching the top spot from Sunderland. The research, conducted by National Savings & Investments, found that Salisbury, Lancaster and east London were second, third and fourth, respectively.

But the report also found that Halifax, Galashiels and Central London East are the unluckiest regions.

Across Britain, 23 million people own Premium Bonds worth £26bn, all of which are entered into a monthly draw, with one million prizes worth more than £69m - from £50 to the jackpot of £1m.

Both Oldham and Salisbury's luck changed vastly last year - Oldham improved its position by rising from 48th and Salisbury improved from 59th.

Doncaster, Redhill and north London were the highest climbers, all jumping by more than 80 places to reach the top 10. Exeter has performed the most consistently, with two years inside the top 11.

Sally Swait, Premium Bonds manager for National Savings & Investments, said: "Congratulations to Oldham. The top 10 show that luck in winning Premium Bond prizes is spread across the UK with places like Oldham and Salisbury luckier than the rest in the past year.

"Every one of the 23 million people owning Premium Bonds has the chance to win but who knows what combinations Ernie, the Premium Bond number cruncher, will choose to be the luckiest over the coming year."

Oldham was transformed from an obscure Pennine village to the cotton-spinning capital of the world in the space of two generations during the industrial revolution and found itself in the spotlight when it was the centre of racial unrest in May 2001.