Five London councils top the league for National Lottery handouts.

Greenwich, Westminster, the City of London, Camden and Islington have received the most money per resident since the Lottery began in November 1994.

Greenwich in south east London has received more than �690m - nearly �650m higher than the national average for an authority of its size.

It has been given �3,216.78 per resident, while the Hart authority in north east Hampshire has received just �16.42 per head.

It is thought that the complicated process of applying for Lottery money may put off poorer authorities.

Highest awards per head

Greenwich: �3,216.78 Westminster: �2,925.13 City of London: �2,213.98 Camden: �1,383.85 Islington: �1,294.13

Cities such as Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester, Norwich and Cambridge seem to benefit from the most Lottery money at the expense of smaller areas such as Basildon in Essex and Wyre, Lancashire.

But despite its 715,404 residents, the City of Leeds, the second-largest local authority, was awarded just �157.83 per head, well below the UK average.

Jeremy Phillips, from information management company j4b which compiled the index, said money was awarded to projects proved likely to succeed, rather than just being given to whoever asked for it.

He said: "As the application process is not straightforward, local authority funding officers must decide whether a speculative application is a good use of their resources.

"Often these resources are so thinly stretched that it makes more sense to concentrate on applying for the easier schemes."

The Calculation of Lottery Dispersal index ranks all 434 local authorities according to figures from the government and the 2001 Census.