EU Referendum: £500k in bets put on in West Midlands with one punter betting £20k on leave

Approximately 60 per cent of the bets in recent weeks have been for leave, with the remainder being placed on remain.

One confident punter in the region even placed a whopping £20,000 bet on Britain to leave the EU with Ladbrokes. It comes after bookies across the UK began shortening odds on Britain to vote leave. At the time of writing, Ladbrokes had a remain vote priced at 2/5, with a leave vote at 2/1.

Wolverhampton MP Pat McFadden, Labour's former Shadow Europe Minister and a prominent campaigner for Britain to remain within the EU, said Ultimately it will not be up to the pollsters or the punters who are betting, it will be up to the voters in a few weeks time.

"I think these things are interesting but it will be up to the voters."

Asked if he was confident of seeing a remain vote for Britain, Mr McFadden added: "I never like to make predictions so I am not going to make one here. Remain is what I would like and we will wait and see how the voters vote in a few weeks time."

Out campaigner and Dudley MP Mike Wood also had his say on the figures. He said he believed that they showed 'where the smart money' was going.

He told the Express & Star: "I think this shows that the smart money is on Britain leaving the EU. It shows what Express & Star readers already know that Britain would have a brighter future if it left the European Union. The 60 per cent bet on leave in recent weeks shows how the Leave Campaign has gathered momentum."

West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge added: "The clever money at the bookies is backing Britain to leave the EU and rightly so. I am confident that the people of the West Midlands will vote for Brexit and lead the way for the rest of the country."

The £20,000 placed on a leave vote by a West Midlands punter is not the only big bet to be placed on the referendum. Earlier this week a punter up in Leeds staked £60,000 on Britain to remain in the EU.