An Ilford man could be one of the luckiest men ever after winning the EuroMillions twice, less than two years apart.

George Traykov, 45, of Ilford, who carried on buying a ticket twice a week despite having won £1million in November 2011, has received his second cheque from the National Lottery for £160,873.80.

The self-employed property developer, who moved to the borough from Bulgaria in 1995, admitted he almost overlooked the latest windfall when he failed to cheque his ticket from the draw on November 16, 2012.

The father-of-one, who still lives in the same three-bedroom home he had before his first win, said: “I always let the machine choose my numbers. I don’t feel that lucky and I continue to work as always as I love what I do. I can’t just sit at home.

“I must have been good in a past life to have won a second time. I will definitely carry on playing, especially as I only missed out on the jackpot by one number last time.”

After checking his numbers while at Lakeside Shopping Centre in January, he was told to contact Camelot and within a day he was jetting off to Cancun in Mexico.

“I’ve worked very hard and I have never spent more than I have so money has never been a major problem for me,” he said.

Mr Traykov, once a member of the Bulgarian national Sky diving team, said: “Skydiving is much more exciting than winning the lottery.”

He added that he had no plans for the winnings except he was hoping to get some ideas from the Ideal Home Show on how to renovate his own house.

The second winning ticket was purchased in Tesco, Highbridge Road, Barking.

He said: “I want to stay living in Ilford as I have a lot of friends here and the area is very safe and constantly changing.”