Romford is the UK’s lucky hot spot when it comes to winning the lottery.

Statistics from the National Lottery reveal that the RM postcode tops the UK ranking for the most lottery big prize winners per head of the population.

Andy Carter, the senior advisor for the National Lottery said: “It is great news for people that live in Romford. I think the last time we did the survey Romford was third so it means that more people have won in the last year.”

Since the lottery started 40 millionaires have been created in the RM postcode.A total of 317 people have bagged top tier prizes of at least £50,000.

To celebrate Romford’s top town status, the very first National Lottery ceremonial flag was awarded to Havering Council on Wednesday.

Andy said: “The flag will be flown in front of the top hall the mark the area’s triumph.

“It is a good boost for people, they might not have won the lottery but it makes them realise that it can happen.”

The statistics, which include both publicity and non-publicity winners, map out the UK’s lucky hot spots based on the number of major prizes over £50,000 since the lottery began in November 1994.

Sunderland came in second place for the luckiest national lottery post code followed by Newcastle in third place.

A spokesman for the National Lottery said: “We hope that the RM residents are proud to lay claim to the UK’s luckiest postcode.

“Romford is the first postcode to ever fly the National Lottery ceremonial flag, let’s hope it brings a further dose of luck for residents in the year to come.”