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Scotland Dominates the Premium Bonds prize league Glasgow Named Luckiest


WEBWIRE

Lady Luck favours the Scots according to the latest Premium Bonds prize league, with Glasgow emerging as the UK’s luckiest postcode for winning top Premium Bonds prizes in 2006-07, with Kirkcaldy a close second. Edinburgh has also entered the top 10 in ninth place, making it a hat trick for the Scots. Dumfries received the highest proportion of top prizes in 2002-03 while the City of London was top of the league last year.

This is the fifth year NS&I, which runs Premium Bonds, conducted the study based on the top 120 postcodes in the UK. This shift of luck northwards is confirmed by Warrington and Hull shooting up the league to take third and fourth place respectively. Belfast completes the top five and is the only place to maintain its top 10 slot.

UK’s 10 luckiest places (last year’s positions in brackets)
1. Glasgow (72)
2. Kirkcaldy (65)
3. Warrington (94)
4. Hull (63)
5. Belfast (7)
6. Shrewsbury (71)
7. Ilford (90)
8. Lancaster (118)
9. Edinburgh (30)
10. Milton Keynes (53)

The league table (above) shows the top 10 areas across the UK for winning top Premium Bonds prizes between March 2006 and February 2007 as a proportion of the number of Premium Bonds held in their area.

Across the UK, 23 million people own Premium Bonds worth over £35 billion. Eligible Bonds are entered into each monthly draw which pays out 1.4 million prizes worth £103 million from £50 to the two £1 million jackpots.

Sally Swait, Premium Bonds manager at NS&I commented: "Scottish postcodes have been particularly successful this year. Both Glasgow and Kirkcaldy were languishing in the bottom end of the league in 2005-06 but have seen their fortunes rise to the very top of the table, winning the highest proportion of top prizes this year.

“This along with the fact that only Belfast maintained a top 10 position over the last two years goes to show that even though you might not have been lucky in the past year, the jackpot could still be yours. With more prizes to be won in June’s bumper draw, places like the Isle of Man may see a reversal of fortune. June could be their lucky month!”

June’s Premium Bond draw is predicted to be the biggest yet with a prize fund worth £110 million, including five £1 million jackpots rather than the usual two. With a total of 1.4 million prizes there is even more chance for Premium Bond customers to get lucky.

This draw is the last of two anniversary draws which celebrate 50 years of Premium Bonds. NS&I paid out five £1 million jackpots in December 2006 to mark 50 years since the introduction of Premium Bonds.

For customers to have the chance of taking part in this exciting draw, they must register before 30 April 2007 to have a chance of claiming Premium Bonds prizes in June.

Notes to Editors:

Calculations were based on the total value of large prizes (£1,000 and over) won per million Bonds held in the top 120 Bond-owning postal areas over a one year period between March 2006 and February 2007. A full table or results of a specific postcode are available on request.

All Premium Bonds prizes are free of UK income Tax and Capital Gains tax.

Further information on NS&I, including press releases and product information, is available from the NS&I Media Team.

NS&I PR contact:
Elen Thomas
National Savings and Investments
375 Kensington High Street
London
W14 8SD
020 7348 9654
elen.thomas@nsandi.com
http://www.nsandi.com/



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