IF you are a gambling man, or woman, and find losing money on the Lotto, horses and Premier League results somewhat prosaic why not consider an imaginative flutter on prospects for the Loch Ness monster being finally discovered this year But act now, the odds are shortening all the time. Ladbrokes this week slashed its odds on the creature finally surfacing by a third. In January the thoughtful punter could have had 150/1, those odds have now shortened to 100/1.

The ripples of alarm among bookmakers comes in the wake of the discovery by a Mr George Edwards, a Loch Ness coastguard, of a deep underwater cavern which could be Nessie's lair. Yet another scientific team is preparing to get its feet wet in hopes of finding Nessie droppings.

Bookmakers in general are understandable nervous. "It's enough to give us the hump as a discovery could mean monster losses," according to a tongue in cheek Ladbroke's spokesman. For holders of Ladbroke shares perhaps now is a good time to ring your stockbroker?