Betting on the general election result is set to reach a record £10 million high.

Bookmakers have issued their first odds of who they think will be heading for Downing Street on June 8 - and there are no surprises.

Ladbrokes is offering Labour at 1-40, the Conservatives at 10-1 and ranks the Lib Dems as 200-1 outsiders.

Coral put Labour 1-20, the Conservatives at 16-1 and the Liberal Democrats at a very wide 750-1.

So confident is William Hill that the result is already a done deal they have already opened a book on the date of the next general election making 2005 4-6 favourite.

It is offering Labour as "the hottest favourites of all time" to win the current contest with odds of 1-33.

It also puts the Tories at their longest odds ever of 10-1 and the Lib Dems at 150-1. A hung parliament, the evergreen of election forecasters, is quoted at 7-1.

Worryingly for William Hague the bets are also on for who will replace him as Tory leader. William Hill put Michael Portillo as 6-4 favourite to succeed him.

The company is also predicting that punters will bet a record £10 million pounds on the outcome of the election.

"We will be taking bets on margins of victory; numbers of seats for each party; individual constituencies and much more," said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.Several gamblers have already put down more than £20,000 on Labour romping home, confident that Tony Blair won't fall at the final hurdle.

"They are convinced that Labour are such certainties that they are just lending us their money for a few weeks before collecting it back with a decent bonus," said Sharpe.