Bookie Hill considers a Brit ban

Paul Weller was shown giving a pre-recorded acceptance speech

Bookmaker William Hill may ban betting on next year's Brit awards after losing £20,000 on a large number of bets for Paul Weller to win best British male.

A flurry of bets were placed on Weller during a two-hour period last Thursday including a series placed by a group of men in shops in Guildford, Surrey.

A William Hill spokesman said the Brits' committee system meant "too many opportunities" for leaked results.

A Brits spokesman said any ban by the company was "their prerogative".

Staff became wary when one man in the Guildford area placed a £250 bet.

A string of big bets all in one area by similar description people - that's big alarm bells time Rupert Adams William Hill

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: "That's quite a lot of money for a fun bet where we would expect the average stake to be £5 to £15.

"A string of big bets all in one area by similar description people - that's big alarm bells time."

Odds were cut from 5/1 - where punters would make a profit of £5 from a £1 stake - to 1/5, where a winning bet would bring just £1 profit from a £5 stake.

Bets continued to be placed before William Hill eventually closed its entire book on the Brits.

£10,000 loss

Viewers of Wednesday night's awards watched as Weller, who was not at the west London ceremony, accepted his award from singer Adele in a taped acceptance speech.

Mr Adams said that next year, William Hill would either refuse to take any wagers or would stop taking bets a fortnight before the ceremony.

We'd probably be a little bit more vigilant next year and close betting a bit earlier Coral spokesman

"We understand that the actual committees to discuss who's going to win meet later than that so we'd definitely finish betting prior to any meetings to discuss who's going to win," he added.

Bookmaker Coral said it had lost £10,000 on Brits betting and had stopped taking wagers on Weller after a large number of bets were placed.

"Clearly somebody knew something and his acceptance speech was pre-recorded," a spokesman said.

"We'd probably be a little bit more vigilant next year and close betting a bit earlier."