Punters have placed bets worth £5,000 on the Almighty's existence with Paddy Power since it offered the bet two months ago. It began taking bets to coincide with the switching on of the Large Hadron Collider which physicists hope may lead to the discovery of a sub-atomic object called the "God particle".

Initially the odds were 20-1, and they lengthened to 33-1 when the multi-billion pound atom smasher was shut down temporarily because of a magnetic failure. But interest in the wager has increased greatly following the recent launch of a campaign to have atheist adverts placed on London buses declaring that "there's probably no God".

As a result of a flurry of small bets Paddy Power has cut the odds on proof being found of God's existence to just 4-1. The bookmaker stands to lose more than £50,000 if proof emerges to justify religious belief. A spokesman for Paddy Power said that confirmation of God's existence would have to be verified by scientists and given by an independent authority before any payouts were made.

He added: "The atheists' planned advertising campaign seems to have renewed the debate in pubs and around office water-coolers as to whether there is a God and we've seen some of that being transferred into bets. However we advise anyone still not sure of God's existence to maybe hedge their bets for now, just in case."

You're probably better off putting your money on Laughing Gravy in the 3:30 at Kempton Park.

That sounds like the punt for me!

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