Both New Year Premium Bond millionaires come from the same city

For the first time ever, two millionaires have been created in the same city in the same Premium Bonds draw.

According to National Savings & Investments, which runs Premium Bonds, a man and a woman in Leicester both scooped a £1 million win in January's draw by the Ernie computer.

The man has £30,000 invested in Premium Bonds and bought the winning bond in January 2013, while the woman has £14,000 invested and bought the winning bond in October 2012.

It's the first time that two jackpots have been won in the same city or even the same county in a single month's draw – and while their have been four previous Premium Bond millionaire winners in Leicestershire, it's the first time anyone from the city of Leicester has won the jackpot.

"Ernie is known for spreading joy and creating surprises for thousands all over the country each month – it is fantastic for Leicester that, despite the odds, he has made two millionaires in one swoop and given the city its first jackpot winners," says Jill Waters, NS&I retail director.

"Premium Bonds are a great way to save and every Bond number has the same chance of winning a prize so we hope to see the next generation of Leicestrian Premium Bond holders inspired by this very special start to 2016."

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Unlike the National Lottery, there's no time limit on claiming Premium Bond prizes - and there are another 7,591 unclaimed prizes, worth more than £309,000, in Leicester alone. There are four outstanding prizes of £1,000 and one, for £25, that dates back to May 1966.

Nationwide, there are around 900,000 unclaimed prizes with a total value of over £40 million, including dozens worth £10,000 or more.

Premium Bond holders can find out if they've won a prize by using the Premium Bond prize checker, or can register to have any prizes paid directly into their bank account and be notified by email, here.

Since the first draw in June 1957, Premium Bonds have paid out £16.3 billion to 333 million lucky winners. In the January draw alone, more than 2.2 million netted £66 million between them.

Premium Bond holders don't get paid interest on the money they've put in - instead, this is put into creating cash prizes worth between £25 and £1 million, which are paid out to random winners every month. The average rate of return is 1.35%.

The odds mean that they are generally a worse investment than most savings accounts. But they do have certain benefits for higher-rate taxpayers - and give holders the chance to daydream once a month.