Connect2 is bookies' favourite for Big Lottery cash
- Published: 10 December 2007 11:18
- Author: Richard Vaughan
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- Last Updated: 10 December 2007 12:11
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As voting closes for the Big Lottery Fund's £50 million People's Choice, William Hill has put charity Sustrans' Connect2 scheme as frontrunner.
The bookmaker has placed Connect2, which will improve walkways and cycle paths across the UK, at 6/5, while Moxon Architects and Knight Architects' Black Country scheme is at 2/1.
Both Grimshaw Architects' The Edge – an extension to the Eden project – and Make's Sherwood forest visitor centre have been placed at 9/2 outsiders.
A spokesman for William Hill said the decision by ITV to drop the Big Lottery programme from its hour-long prime-time slot meant that betting was low on the £50 million jackpot.
'We thought there would be plenty of bids as it is such an important project – £50 million is a vast sum of money. But the decision to drop the one-hour show and instead run four 15-minute shows later meant people missed it,' the spokesman said.
The chance to vote on the four schemes has now passed, and a winner will be announced on Wednesday 12 December.
