Betting has been suspended on Tom Hiddleston to become the next James Bond after a flurry of bets on the former Oxford schoolboy. 

The former Dragon School pupil is heavy favourite to take over from Daniel Craig and a 'big gamble' on the star has led Coral bookmakers to suspend betting on him. 

The 35-year-old's odds were slashed last week when he was spotted meeting Bond film director Sam Mendes and producer Barbara Broccoli in London.

A large gamble then saw his odds further cut to 1/2 before the bookmakers took action and stopped accepting bets on Hiddleston, who played spy Jonathan Pine in the hit BBC 1 series The Night Manager earlier this year. 

Poldark star Aidan Turner is second favourite will most bookmakers followed by Idris Elda, Tom Hardy and Damian Lewis