Premium Bonds beat Lotto to the draw

Premium Bonds have outstripped the National Lottery as the nation's favourite flutter.

Sales of the Government-backed bonds increased by 57 per cent to £7.5billion last year, latest official figures show - compared to Lottery ticket revenue of £4.6 billion.

Financial experts say the bonds are more attractive to many because each "ticket" is entered into every monthly draw; one recent top £1 millionwinning ticket was bought in 1959. And they can be sold when you need your money back, making them the only gamble where your stake is not at risk.

The odds of winning the top prize for a ?1 stake are much better in the Lottery - at 14 million to one, compared with 25 billion to one - yet Premium Bonds are increasingly attracting serious investors fed up with dismal stock market performance.

The value of bonds a person can hold was lifted from £20,000 to £30,000 this year.

Recent Mintel market research claimed 63 per cent of Britons enter the main Saturday Lottery draw, down from 76 per cent in 1999. But Lottery operator Camelot said research it had seen showed "no correlation" between Lottery and Premium Bond sales.