Mr Taylor, of Essex, is ideal Lottery winner

IF YOUR surname is Taylor, you live in Essex and work in the engineering or manufacturing industry, the chances are you don't need to be told to buy a ticket for the National Lottery.

Research had shown these are the luckiest surname, region and occupation in a survey of previous jackpot winners, the Lottery operator Camelot said yesterday.

Since the launch of the Lottery in 1994 more than 830 millionaires have been created and there is on average one National Lottery millionaire for every 57,553 people in the UK. Based on population figures Camelot said it expected there to be 127 Lottery millionaires in London, and another 38 in Manchester.

The most popular occupations for jackpot winners are management at 5.6 per cent, engineering at 5 per cent and construction at 3.75 per cent. Fewer teachers had scooped the big prize - just 1.8 per cent of winners were to be found in front of a blackboard. Farmers made up another 1.8 per cent of winners.

Camelot found that some of those who had matched six numbers appeared to be riding a string of luck. Winners have gone on to invest in racehorses that have beaten the odds to become winners themselves. One such example is Roy Gibney's horse Red Lion, which was bought with the proceeds of his pounds 7.5m Lottery jackpot win in July 1998. The horse has since increased in value by pounds 20,000.

Another winner, Mel Eddison, who scooped pounds 2.5m in July 1995, was even asked to perform a blessing on the Lottery terminal at his local retailer after his win and it went on to generate a jackpot prize for a syndicate of nurses from Wrexham, Clwyd.

Other winners believe that everything from lucky stones to tarot card readings have helped them on their way to a fortune. Barbara Martin, from Devon, won pounds 2.7m with six numbers given to her by a psychic.