Worried bookmakers have stopped taking bets on aliens showing up on Earth. It follows a flurry of bets amid internet buzz that a massive intergalactic spaceship will appear tomorrow. Videos and messages on YouTube, blogs and UFO websites are buzzing with predictions that a vessel from the alien Federation Of Light will be visible in our skies for three days.

It may all sound more oddball than odds-on - but bookies William Hill are taking it seriously enough to temporarily suspend betting on proof of the existence of intelligent alien life being confirmed by PM Gordon Brown. It follows a rush of bets, including one punter who wanted to place a s3000 bet at odds of 1000-1. Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: "This is the first time an internet phenomenon has affected our business. "We now have seven-figure liabilities if the ship does appear. We have decided to duck any more big bets until the 14th has passed, hopefully without incident." The rumour is believed to have been started by "channeler" Blossom Goodchild, who claimed to have received a psychic tip-off. The stories have spread, along with a warning it would "cause panic among the masses".

One message claims: "They have carefully selected this time to show up and are doing it out of goodwill because of the great evils behind this world. "It is time to become free from wars, pestilence, famine, poverty, sickness, disease, rich and poor and all the world sufferings." No time was given for the spaceship's arrival.

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