Winner Dean changes pub name to 'lucky'

Dean Hardman and his wife (Stella Hardman) renames his Pub The Lucky Crown Inn in Bury St Heywood With them are regulars Alan Moscrop and Bob Birch

FORGET choosing a special date such as a loved one's birthday or an anniversary, it seems that all you need to win the lottery is living in the right postcode.

Lottery players might be excited to learn that the OL postcode is the 12th luckiest in the country - with 11 millionaires created in the last two years.

And figures from the National Lottery reveal that 262 people in the OL postcode have won a major cash prize of £50,000 or more since the lottery began.

Romford in Essex is the luckiest postcode in Britain, followed by Teesside in the North-East and Warrington in the North-West.

But before you rush out to buy a ticket, you may want to consider moving to Heywood to improve your chances, which is where lottery winner Dean Hardman lives.

For the OL postcode doesn't just include Oldham but parts of Rochdale and Ashton too!

To celebrate the OL postcode's success, Dean - who scooped a whopping £6.75m in 2006 - has changed the name of his pub from The Crown Inn to The Lucky Crown Inn.

Dean (42) was playing dominoes in the Bury Street pub, which he runs with his wife Stella, when he saw his numbers being drawn on a Friday night in November.

He phoned the National Lottery the next day to confirm that he had indeed won. He was the one of seven UK Euromillions players who shared the Euromillions £120 million jackpot prize fund.

He said: "It's fantastic news that the OL postcode is on The National Lottery's rich list.

"I was delighted when I heard about this and decided it would be a good move to change the name of my pub, so hopefully some of my good luck could rub off on some of our customers too.

"I have met a lot of people locally who have won the lottery. They've not won millions but still decent sums - people you don't hear of. You get some good characters here.

"Since winning I'm still doing the same thing - playing football on Monday night, going to watch football on Saturday. Nothing has changed in my social life."

And it's not just individuals winning big.

Last year, 42 grants worth £1.7m were awarded in Oldham, including Royton Leisure Centre, Scout Hall in Oldham Common, Oldham Heritage Centre, the Coliseum Theatre and Alexandra Park.