Man bets £500 on Marine Le Pen and then blames 13-year-old son when she loses

A man has been left red-faced after placing a bet on Marine Le Pen winning the French presidential election.

Colin Johnson took to Twitter to express his confidence in the Front National candidate by replying to a tweet from the BBC's Andrew Neil.

Neil had written about turnout levels and Johnson replied saying: "She has done it. I am sure of it. I have £500 on her."

Just a few hours later, Emmanuel Macron comfortably beat Le Pen by taking 65% of the vote.

Johnson, who has "Hard Brexit Now" emblazoned on a Union Jack as his profile picture, then tried to wriggle out of the bet by claiming it had been accidentally placed, by his 13 -year-old son.

In a series of tweets directed at bookmakers Ladbrokes, he said: "I can prove that a 13-year-old has been gambling on your site, do you want me to involve the authorities?"

He then tweeted to other bookmakers asking them why Ladbrokes was "Okay with a 13-year-old gambling? Refund now. Before I involve police".

He ended his tweetstorm with "this is illegal."

On Sunday (7 May), Mr Macron become the first president from outside the two traditional main parties since the modern republic's foundation in 1958.

He said that a new page was being turned in French history.

In her speech, Marine Le Pen thanked the estimated 11 million people who had voted for her.

She said the election had shown a division between "patriots and globalists" and called for the emergence of a new political force.