Shropshire Star

Feeling lucky? Telford at number 13 in the National Lottery charts

It may be unlucky for some – but the number 13 has proved lucky for the people of Telford.

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The town has been statistically named the 13th best place to strike it rich by playing the National Lottery, with 63 players winning £50,000 or more over the past 10 years.

To celebrate, Victorian townsfolk from Blists Hill Victorian Town helped spread the word by posing with the lucky number 13 and taking part in a video about lucky (and unlucky) Victorian superstitions.

The award-winning open air museum is one of 10 operated by Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, which has received more than £9 million in Lottery funding in the last 15 years.

Andy Carter, senior winners' advisor for the National Lottery – the man who pays out the big winners - said: "Staff at Blists Hill Victorian Town have shown us the Victorians were a superstitious lot and we are delighted people living in the area today continue to have a good run of luck, by winning on the National Lottery.

"There are now a massive 4,250 National Lottery millionaires across the country and with more than six new millionaires made every week there is likely to be another local winner made soon."

The luck of the Shrewsbury postcode area is also on the up, with the postcode ranking in the top 50 in the UK for the number of millionaires made in the area.

The combined postcode areas of SY/LD has seen luck improve and it now ranks 35th out of 121 for the most National Lottery millionaires created, with 17 millionaires made in the last five years.

Lucky winners from Telford have included Shaun Mulligan who popped into a shop to buy a fizzy drink and a National Lottery scratchcard in 2014 and ended the day popping champagne corks after winning £300,000.He had bought the £3 ticket at Vineyard Stores in Newport and stared at it in disbelief after scratching off the jackpot-winning combination. It was also a dream come true for David and Marina Williams, from St Georges, who won almost £1 million on the Lotto in 2008.

The couple initially thought they had matched four numbers, but after double-checking their Lotto numbers on Teletext, realised they had got all six.

Their winning ticket was bought at Right Price Supermarket in Oakengates.

Grants worth £8,759,099 were given to National Lottery funded projects in Shropshire last year.

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