FOOTBALL fan Nick Cawley is as sick as a parrot – after a bookie refused to pay him his £2,470 winnings from a £20 Euro 2008 bet.

The 31-year-old had been over the moon when his 'double' on Spain to win the tournament and striker David Villa, pictured, to finish top scorer came off.

But the celebrations fell flat for plasterer Nick when he was told his wager should not have been accepted by staff as a double.

Instead Coral has reclassified his wager as a 'related' bet and offered the father-of-two £820 at odds of 40-1.

Coral officials today apologised for the blunder, but now Nick can only go to the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) to try to settle the row, or take Coral to court.

Nick said: “To a firm like Coral £1,600 is nothing, but it's a lot of money to me.

“They make a lot of money and I think it is petty.”

Nick, of Cumberbatch Avenue, Fegg Hayes, Stoke-on-Trent, had placed the double bet at his local Coral branch on Biddulph Road a day before the tournament and backed Villa at 18-1 and Spain at 11-2.

The Villa bet would have netted him £380 and Nick thought that amount would have increased to £2,470 when Spain won the tournament at 11-2.

But Nick was told the bet should not have been taken when he went to pick up his winnings.

He said: “They wrote down on my slip £2,470 and I could see them talking between themselves.

“Then one of them had a phone call and came back and said, 'You are not going to be very happy with this, but the regional manager has said we cannot pay out on a double'.

“They have said it is a contingency bet so it is 40-1 plus my stake back.”

But Nick is angry at only being offered £820.

He added: “I am shocked, frustrated and cannot believe it.

“Next time a horse loses I'll go back into the bookies and tell them I didn't mean to place the bet.”

Nick has used that bookmakers for around eight years and normally places small bets on football matches on Saturdays.

But Nick, who had hoped to spend his winnings on nursery charges for his children and a holiday, now plans to use a bookies in Tunstall instead.

Coral spokesman David Stevens said the £820 payment was within the firm's rules. He said Coral would abide by any IBAS ruling.

He said: “There was a special price on offer, 40-1, but the bet was taken in error and we can only apologise for the mistake.

“It should have been pointed out to the customer, but Mr Cawley had the two bets written down and the member of staff should have been aware of this, so we apologise for that.

“It was a related contingency bet and it is unfortunate that the customer was only made aware of this after the event.”

IBAS's Sharon Powell said: “We would be happy to look at this dispute as soon as Mr Cawley contacts us.

“If he has exhausted the customer services channel, the natural step is for him to contact IBAS.”