NEWCASTLE is the second luckiest place in the country when it comes to National Lottery winnings.

Since the launch of the Lottery 11 years ago, only Birmingham has won more prizes over £50,000 than Newcastle.

In total, players from the Newcastle area have collected £229,229,791, including several big jackpots.

Birmingham's tally is £239,566,779 - it has the highest number of Lottery millionaires - while Sheffield is third with £180,060,036, Liverpool fourth with £175,041,044 and Glasgow fifth with £169,065,002.

In total, more than 1,800 players have been made Lottery millionaires, Camelot said.

When it comes to wins per head, Ilford, in Essex, is the luckiest place with one jackpot per 8,019 people, and 29 jackpot winners in total.

Camelot chief executive Dianne Thompson said: "With millionaires created in every postcode area in the UK, I think it is fair to say that beyond this top ten, lucky hotspots are everywhere."

The prize winnings for the top ten towns since the launch of the National Lottery are more than £886m, with a total of 330 jackpot-winning entries and 182 millionaires.