The Margin's "new survey" department can report the following. "Banks" has emerged as not just the most appropriate but also the most common surname among winners of British lottery scratch cards.

The surname beat off Smith, Jones and Brown in a survey of people who had scooped major prizes on the Littlewoods Lotteries scratch card game.

Overall, women were twice as likely as men to win a prize of £75 or more, even though men buy more lottery scratch cards than females. However, worry not males, men are more likely to hit the £50,000 jackpot.