Will Britain Rule The Waves At Oscars?

Following her success at the Golden Globes, William Hill have cut the price of Helen Mirren winning the Best Actress award at this years Oscars from 2/7 to 2/9 and offer 12/1 that 'The Queen' wins the best film and 9/1 that Stephen Frears wins Best Director.

Martin Scorsese is one again the hot favourite at 1/3 to win Best Director for 'The Departed' with Forest Whitaker a 1/4 shot for Best Actor. With such a strong British Field, the bookies expect turnover to exceed previous records and are predicting industry turnover to exceed the £1 million mark.

"There are obvious favourites in all the categories but the Oscars always throw up a surprise or two and we can only hope that it will not be at the expense of our golden girl Helen Mirren ," said William Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams.