Ladbrokes Coral will 'compete hard' says Mullen

Rivals of the newly merged Ladbrokes and Coral were told they will face fierce competition from the new group, which started trading as a single entity on Tuesday.

Shares in Ladbrokes Coral Group plc rose 2.7 per cent to 137.2p with the bookmaker ending the day with a market capitalisation – a measure of a company's value – of just short of £1.4 billion.

The long-running process of bringing together two of the most familiar high street betting operators finally ended on Tuesday with the completion of the merger.