Ladbrokes probes Great British Bake Off betting claims

Ladbrokes has said it will consider whether to allow betting on future series of the Great British Bake Off after claims workers linked to the show were placing bets on this year’s winner.

Great British Bake Off: Labdrokes probe. Picture: Jane Record/BBC

The bookmaker is investigating wagers from 42 gambling accounts with alleged links to BBC staff and Love Productions, the company behind the hit series.

A total of 529 bets – potentially worth about £10,000 – were reportedly placed through the accounts that were created ahead of the pre-recorded final, which airs on BBC One tonight. A Ladbrokes spokesman said: “We flagged at the start of the series that we thought something smelled a bit strange. We are looking into it further.

“If we feel we’ve had the equivalent of a custard pie thrown in our faces we will think twice about whether we should bet on markets like this again in the future.”

A BBC spokesman said: “We have no knowledge of these claims.”

Bets placed on the outcome of television events such as the Great British Bake Off are often restricted to £20 at any one time, but punters are able to bet more than once over a period of days. Today’s final will see contestants Ian Cumming, Nadiya Hussain and Tamal Ray battle it out for the Bake Off crown.

Bets on this year’s final were suspended in August amid fears the winner’s name had been leaked. Ladbrokes announced it had stopped taking wagers after it noticed suspicious play on one contestant, whose odds started at 12/1 and were reduced to 6/1, 3/1 and then evens. A spokeswoman for Love Productions said: “Everyone who works on the production of the Bake Off series is bound by confidentiality. We take any allegation of breach extremely seriously.”