EU referendum: There was a record number of bets on Brexit last week as punters piled into the Leave campaign
A record number of bets have been placed on the Leave side coming through in next month's EU referendum, according to bookies Ladbrokes.
Odds on the UK voting for Brexit hit their lowest level since the market went live last week after a string of opinion polls showed the Remain side stretching their lead. But punters clearly saw some value in backing the Leave side at 4/1 – an implied 20 per cent chance it coming in – with a massive 78 per cent of all bets placed last week going that way.
Ladbrokes said there had been a "sudden and unexpected surge of support for Brexit … the sheer number of individuals backing Brexit in the last few days is notable".
Read more: Are Remain really ahead in the polls?
Last week's betting patterns completely reversed the trend in previous weeks, which had seen as many as nine in ten backers sticking their cash on the Remain side.
In response to the mass of bets, Ladbrokes shifted their odds slightly to offer an industry high 1/5 for the UK to vote to stay in the EU and 7/2 for it to vote to leave. The majority of other bookmakers are still offering 4/1 on a Leave vote, however, suggesting Ladbrokes may have attracted more Brexit backers than the others over the last week.
Currency markets still appear to be indicating that a Brexit vote is more likely than it once was. The pound has remained consistently above the $1.45 mark thought to be a ceiling until after the leave vote. Yesterday it closed at $1.4623, up more than on cent for the week.