X Factor Festive Bet Ban

Bookies are taking bets on who will be Christmas number one - but banning the X Factor winner from contention.

William Hill reckon the race to top the festive chart is a foregone conclusion these days.

X Factor winners Leona Lewis and Shayne Ward have landed the number one spot for the past two years.

So William Hill is instead opening a book on who will take second place.

The early 3/1 favourites are classical boy band Blake, who got together after meeting on Facebook.

They are covering Bing Crosby classic White Christmas, with proceeds going to the Royal British Legion.

Blake are four classical musicians - Stephen Bowman, Jules Knight, Dominic Tighe and Oliver Baines.

They met on Facebook earlier this year through a shared love of classical music, and have since landed a £1 million record deal with Universal.

White Christmas was first released in 1942 and has since sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide.

It has been recorded by everyone from Pat Boone to Keith Harris and Orville.