I’m not often moved to say anything good about Paddy Power.  Let’s face it, their market on which Premier League player will be burgled next last September was an absolute frickin disgrace.

But they struck PR gold yesterday with the launch of www.volcanobetting.com and I must confess to feeling a tad jealous for not thinking about this before they did. Their so called Cash for Ash initiative is genius. Insurance companies balking at providing cover to travellers against disruption to their holiday due to airport closures caused by Iceland’s erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano please take note.

Paddy Power is now taking bets on the closure of specific UK airports for at least 1 hour on dates between June 1 and August 31. Travellers can bet at odds of up to 20-1 to hedge against flight delays or cancellations.

At those odds, a £100 bet (or shall we call it insurance premium) will return a not-too-shabby £2,000 if the bet comes in.

I have no idea how popular or busy this market will be – according to them there has been a lot of interest from their customers. I don’t suppose it really matters. If it meets a genuine demand, good for them. If not, their creativity and innovation (in this instance!) has already generated plenty of very positive TV, radio and newspaper coverage.

Good for them!