FANCY A FLUTTER WITH FRIES?
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• Fancy a flutter on the 2:30 at Newmarket while sweating over whether you're going to make that 4:30 pick-up from Nuneaton? Or a fiver on the test match during a break for egg and chips on the motorway?
For the first time, having a bet will be possible this year at three Granada service stations on the MI and M42. Bookmaker Ladbrokes is to operate the betting shops and promises to add "an exciting new dimension to many peo ple's motorway journeys." But while you will be able to gamble on the next Christmas Number One, Wimbledon winner or Open golf champion, Ladbrokes is unlikely to offer odds on the length of the hold-up at the next contraf low or how many Ford Mondeo drivers will manage to cut you up that day.
Betting kiosks will initially be installed at Granada's service stations on the north and southbound carriageways of the M1 near J12 at Toddington in Bedfordshire, (just north of Luton) and on the M42 at J10 near Tamworth in Staffordshire.
Labrokes will start operating from the sites as soon as Granada gets a gambling licence. And if the venture succeeds, Ladbrokes will expand to other Granada service stations. Rival companies could follow suit.