A website started by a Co Tyrone man is putting a new spin on the news by giving punters the chance to predict the outcome of big stories.

Cookstown native Nigel Eccles and his wife Lesley this month launched Hubdub.com , a website that gives news junkies an additional fix by letting them engage in stories rather than just reading about them.

Website users have a pot of virtual money to place bets on the outcome of any of over 2,000 running stories covering politics, sport, business and entertainment.

Though the money is not real Hubdub has gained a following from competitive users keen to prove they were right to the rest of the online community, with groups of friends setting up their own leaderboards.

“We came up with the idea that we could make news much more exciting by allowing people to compete with friends on how particular stories will turn out,” said Mr Eccles, who has previously worked in the technology and media industries, and for online gaming site Betfair.

The probabilities given by users are also a useful prediction mechanism because of the near real-time response to developing stories, he said.

“Newspapers can be volatile in their view of stories. This is a good way to gauge a group opinion,” he said.

The Edinburgh-based company now has around 200,000 users and is growing by around 30,000 a month. The business makes money by licensing Hubdub content to news websites like Reuters and US blog the Huffington Post for a share of advertising revenues.

The site had a successful launch in the US in January, tapping into the huge interest in the Presidential elections.

Mr Eccles said the UK Hubdub site has shown up slightly different news interests, particularly the fascination with talent shows like X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.