With five jackpot prizes of £1m up for grabs in their 50th birthday celebrations, sales of Premium Bonds over the past six months have jumped to £6.6bn, with £2.2bn being invested in October 2006 alone.

Over half-a-million people have purchased their first Premium Bond in this period, taking the total number of Bondholders to 23.7 million. With £36bn in total now being invested, a record number of Bonds will be in the big draw next week.

The draw in June is the second one to celebrate the 50th birthday and has the largest prize fund – £116m – in the history of the Government saving scheme now run by National Savings & Investment (NS&I).

John Prout, NS&I’s sales director, said: “The past eight months have seen a huge surge of interest in Premium Bonds.

“Despite being launched 50 years ago they continue to attract new customers: in the past eight months over 500,000 people have begun saving in Premium Bonds for the first time.

“The anniversary draws, combined with the ease of investing online, have appealed to old and new customers alike.”

New Bondholder Jane Campion said: “I bought £500-worth of new Premium Bonds last November because you get a chance to win big sums of money without losing your stake, like you do in the Lottery.

“It’s a great, fun way to save and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’m one of the £1m winners next week.”