PRIME Minister ‘David Cameron’ was confident enough to place a wager on his own success in a last-minute trip to Hoylake ahead of the General Election this week. Well, sort of.

Customers did a double take when David Cameron lookalike Rob Shergold strolled into Betfred on Market Street on Tuesday afternoon.

He put a bet on his favourite team Aston Villa (or is it West Ham?) to win the FA Cup, as well as betting on his own success at Thursday’s polls.

His wager was for just £2, in line with this being a period of austerity.

Mr Shergold, from Nantwich, told the Globe he watches video and television clips of the PM to get the hand movements correct.

The 51-year-old – who earns up to £1,000 a day through his PM impersonations – took on the unusual role in 2011.

And while he says he shares many of Mr Cameron’s views, he believes he has “gone too far” in some instances.

As well as touring the Northwest as the Tory leader, Mr Shergold also works as a technical manager for Bentley in Crewe.

The visit was organised by independent bookmaker Betfred as part of a whistle-stop tour of the region, to highlight the fact that punters will wager twice as much on the General Election than in the Grand National – and 10 times more than at the last election.

Wirral gamblers are aiming to cash in this General Election with more than £50,000 of bets taken by Betfred for Wirral West alone.

Election stakes are high and while many will place smaller bets, around five or six people have placed bets of £500 on who will become the next MP for the “kingmaker” constituency.

Dozens of media organisations are expected to attend the General Election count in Wirral as attention focuses on the marginal Wirral West seat.

Employment minister Esther McVey – who narrowly beat Labour’s Phil Davies by a 6% majority in 2010 – will be hoping to retain her seat but has faced stiff competition from Labour’s Margaret Greenwood.

Both campaigns have seen key party figures travel to the constituency in a bid to attract voters with Prime Minister hopeful Ed Miliband visiting Pensby last month.

Betfred odds for Wirral West on Tuesday put Ms Greenwood as the favourite to win at 4/6 while Ms McVey’s odds were 6/5.

Fred Done, owner of Betfred, said: “The Wirral is one of the most highly contested areas of the whole country, particularly Wirral West.

“People are betting on both Labour and Conservative where the result is harder to call than the Grand National.

“We are obviously used to substantial bets on horse racing, grey hounds, football and even the royal baby but the General Election has really captured the nation’s imagination.

“We believe that as such, the various leaders debates on television have generated even more public engagement as has the increased use of social media which all the parties are using to gauge opinion.”

This year’s General Election will generate 10 times more in bets than the election in 2010.

As well as serious bets, some have placed “novelty bets”, including on the use of the phrase “Hard working British people” during last week’s TV debate which had odds of 8/1.

Betfred said those placing bets are not their “average punters” and are instead people have thought long and hard and “put their money where their mouth is”.