With more than 300 residents banking a prize of £50,000 or more, the town is top of the league table of most fortunate places, based on 17 years of lottery windfalls. For the first time the statistics have been calculated to include all prizes over that amount and not just jackpot wins.

One in 1,238 of adults in the Romford postcode (RM) have pocketed a prize more than £50,000 since the Lottery began in 1994. Enfield in north London is second, with one in 1,378 residents winning a major prize. Dartford in Kent is third, on one in 1,391 inhabitants, while Newcastle, Sunderland, Liverpool and Warrington all making the top 10.

Overall, the North East has banked the most big cheques per population, 1,550, closely followed by Wales and the North West.

A National Lottery spokesman said: "This is the first time we have included prizes of £50,000 upwards, giving a true snapshot of where the luckiest players are based.

"It's fascinating to see that Essex still remains one of the luckiest counties to live, where for many years Ilford has claimed a high percentage of jackpot prizes for its residents. Now Romford has picked up the winning streak. Perhaps the only way really is Essex.

"In truth, with over 2,800 National Lottery millionaires now in the UK and an average of 24 lottery millionaires in each postcode, every part of the UK should consider itself lucky."

The top 10 is as follows: 1 Romford (RM) one prize of £50,000 or more won per 1,238 adults. 2 Enfield (EN) 1,378. 3 Dartford (DA) 1,391. 4 Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) 1,392. 5 Sunderland (SR) 1,421. 6 Liverpool (L) 1,425. 7 Warrington (WA) 1,428. 8 Bromley (BR) 1,443. 9 Newport (NP) 1,452. 10 Doncaster (DN) 1,472.