A lot of Lotto luck

OLDHAM is one of the country’s luckiest places to live if you want to win a major National Lottery prize.

The OL postcode was ranked as the 56th luckiest place to live if you want to win £50,000 or more.

Since the game was launched in 1994, 207 local people have won a major prize, including 21 new millionaires.

A National Lottery spokesperson said: “Congratulations to the people of Oldham, they live in one of the luckiest postcodes in the UK.”

One lucky winner in the OL postcode, Heywood resident Dean Hardman, won £6,750,278 in the EuroMillions draw in 2006.

He said: “I just couldn’t believe it. Winning on EuroMillions has completely changed my life and these figures show just how realistic it is to win a prize — particularly a big one.”

Other winners include John Topping, a Royton postman, who collected £686,000 when his 14-strong syndicate at the Manchester Mail Centre won £9.3 million in a treble rollover in 2006.

Tommy Cone, a former security officer from Moorside, picked up £4.2 million back in 2003 when his lucky numbers came up.

First to hit the headlines were business partners Melvyn Eddison and John Biesty, who claimed £2.5 million in 1995.