A ‘HEAVY’ gambler from Darwen needed an extra incentive to lose weight so he placed a "life-changing" bet.

Punter Peter Heeks cashed in on his own weight loss - by placing a bet on how many pounds he could lose in a year.

Now the 26-year-old has collected a win of £10,000 after shedding more than seven stone in a year.

Bookmakers William Hill take about a hundred bets a year on weight loss, but no other heavy gambler has lost more than three stone with their diet bets until now.

Strapping 6ft 2ins tall Peter, who weighed 21 stone when he placed the bet and now tips the scales at 14 stone, said: "I had tried diets and exercise in the past to lose weight, but it had never worked.

"Then I heard a story on the radio about a man who won a bet with William Hill after losing three stone.

"I thought that would be the incentive to help me lose weight and my target weight was 14stone, so I contacted the bookmaker and they took on the bet.

"I don’t think they’ll give anyone else 100-1 to lose 100lbs, but it worked wonders for me.

"They hadn’t had anyone wanting a bet on themselves to lose so much, so they gave me a big price.

"If they kept the 100-1 out there – they’d be doing the nation a favour as it would be a great incentive to beat the obesity timebomb.

"I was clearly very overweight when I placed the bet.

"Every other time I tried I failed to get the results as I gave up with the diets and exercise.

"The bet made me focus on losing the weight as soon as I placed the tenner, which was a big bet for me.

"I started changing my diet and going to the gym.”

And the call centre worker even inspired friends and family to lose weight as the stones slipped away.

He said: "It’s had a great knock on effect on my health – it’s probably put years on my life along with the money in my bank.

"When William Hill accepted my bet they changed my life."

William Hill’s spokesman Rupert Adams said: "Peter is our biggest-ever winner at £10,000 after betting £100 at 100/1.

“When he called to say he had succeeded we were flabbergasted.

"This is an amazing achievement and he deserves his winnings.”