Radiohead become favourites for Spectre theme as £15,000 punt causes bookies to suspend bets

William Hill bookmakers has been forced to suspend bets gambling on who recorded the theme tune to upcoming James Bond movie, Spectre, as an anonymous bidder from Middlesex put £15,000 on Radiohead being the musicians behind the mysterious track.

Throughout the past few weeks, solo artist Ellie Goulding was the frontrunner as to who people thought would be announced as the theme tune's singer, even causing UK gambling company Betfair to suspend its own betting systems due to the growing rumours.

This speculation heightened on Tuesday 28 July when she posted a photograph of herself leaving Abbey Road studios, where Bond themes are usually recorded. However, a spokesperson for the 28-year-old has since revealed that she working on her own album there.

William Hills spokesperson Rupert Adams spoke to NME about Radiohead overtaking Goulding as favourites, stating: "The first gamble of the day was Ellie Goulding and punters were backing her as if she already had the gig but just as we were thinking of pulling the plug we had a load of bets for Radiohead including one customer who asked to place a £15,000 bet on the band at 10/1.

"There seem to be all kinds of rumours and the plot has had more twists and turns than a classic Bond tale, but surely nobody risks £15,000 on a hunch."

Spectre director Sam Mendes recently revealed that the song was already finished and that the artist's identity would be confirmed very soon, ahead of the film's release. "I can say that the song's been recorded and it's fantastic and I'm very excited about it," he told BBC News. "You won't have to wait long."

William Hill's odds before it suspended bets following the large punt were as follows:

Radiohead (6/4)
Sam Smith (2/1)
Ellie Goulding (4/1)
Adele (5/1)
Lana Del Rey (14/1)
Lorde (14/1)
Coldplay (33/1)

Adele sang the hugely successful theme song to the last James Bond outing, Skyfall, for which she won an Academy Award. Spectre, the 24th 007 movie in the series, will be released in UK cinemas on 6 November and sees Daniel Craig reprising his role as the secret agent. The film also stars Ben Whishaw, Monica Belucci, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes and Christoph Waltz.