A NEWPORT man won more than £1,000 after betting that UK voters would choose to leave the EU referendum.

David Jones, of Bassaleg, said that staff in his local Betfred shop were so shocked by Mr Jones’ bet of £250 that they had to call a manager.

He returned Friday morning to claim his winnings of £1,250.

Mr Jones, who is the managing director of the Lonsdale Vehicles Direct Ltd in Newport, said he decided to place the bet after friends and local clients told him about why they were voting leave.

“When I went into Betfred, they said no one had put a bet down like that before so they had to ring the office to check that was okay.

“The farmers in the area who I know said they were voting leave and gave me the reasons, and when we were travelling across Wales and the UK there were so many leave signs everywhere.

“It was obvious.”

The 41-year-old also said the more he looked further into the leave campaign he realised he was in favour of leaving the EU himself.

“Thinking about it, everyone was entitled to their opinion and the more I looked into it I was out," he added.

“I am a strong believer in keeping everything in Britain and keeping the industry going over here.”

Mr Jones, who works delivering pre-owned vehicles to companies across the UK, said he has never done anything like this before.

“I would never normally bet but I felt really strongly about this and was sure I would win,” Mr Jones said.

“It was a nice little prize to wake up to.”