Betting on the independence referendum has smashed all records for political events with as much as £12m being gambled across the UK betting industry.

One punter in London placed what has been described as "the biggest bet of the century" - £900,000.

The unnamed man, who has placed his money on a No vote, stands to collect a cool£1,093,333.33, if the Scottish electorate decides to reject independence.

Of course, if it is a Yes vote, he loses his entire £900,000 stake.

Britain's biggest bookmaker, William Hill, said it had taken £2,750,000 in bets on the outcome of the referendum.

"The referendum has surpassed all expectations for the total gambled with between £10m and £12m gambled industry-wide," said Graham Sharpe, William Hill's spokesman.

"However, perhaps the most extraordinary aspect has been that some 70 per cent of all bets placed have been for Yes but 70 per cent of all the money staked has been for No."

This, he underlined, meant that a "No vote will cost us rather a lot more than if it's a Yes vote".

Mr Sharpe also noted how the amount of money bet on the referendum for the first time had exceeded that placed on a top football match like, say, Liverpool versus Manchester City.

"That's unprecedented," he declared.

A No vote has been the favourite from day one of the campaign with odds as short as 1/12 and as long as 2/5 while a Yes vote has always been the outsider with odds as short as 7/4 but as long as 6/1.

Apart from the £900,000 bet, the largest for a No with William Hill has been one of £200,000 from a punter in Glasgow.

While the largest punt on a Yes vote has been £10,000, twice. The average bet is only about £10.

Meantime, Dundee is placed as the favourite to have the highest percentage of Yes votes at 4/6 while Dumfries and Galloway at 4/1 is the favourite to have the highest percentage of No votes.