Boris Johnson’s soaring popularity in the wake of the Olympics makes a Thames Estuary airport more likely to happen, according to one bookmaker.

As we reported last year, William Hill considered the project a “long shot”, but now the bookmaker thinks it has a much greater chance of becoming a reality.

If you fancy a flutter you can get odds of 5/1 an airport will be approved before the next General Election, which is due in 2015. The odds the other way are 1/9.

Rupert Adams, a spokesman for William Hill, said that is roughly half of what they would have quoted before the London Games.

He said: “Boris suddenly finds himself with a lot of bargaining chips, he has a lot more pull.

“Anything that he champions now has a greater chance of going through.”

The London Mayor is a key backer of a scheme which would change the face of Medway and much of Kent.

He has won praise for his performance during the Games in London, and even managed to laugh off a potentially embarrassing incident in which he became stuck on a zip wire.

All three of Medway’s MPs, Medway Council and the RSPB are opposed to the proposal, claiming it would cost too much money and cause huge damage to the environment.

Supporters claim it would create much needed jobs and investment in the area.