Ehiogu, who also played for Middlesbrough and Rangers, died at the age of 44 after suffering a cardiac arrest on April 20 at Tottenham's training ground, where he worked as a coach with their under-23 side.

The likes of former England manager Sam Allardyce and ex-Crystal Palace boss Frank de Boer were included in the market at odds of 33/1.

Other options were long-serving Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor (275/1) and veteran Birmingham rocker Ozzy Osbourne (2,500/1).

Ehiogu's inclusion provoked anger on social media.

Tom Wainwright said it was "sick" that punters could bet on the former centre-back, while David Kelly said it was "pretty poor taste".

Matt Zarb-Cousin, or the Campaign for Fairer Gambling and a former spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn, said he hoped it was "a mistake not a joke".

Replying to Twitter users individually, Paddy Power said it was "a genuine error, which was removed as soon as we realised. Apologies".

The company later issued a statement to the Press Association, adding: "This was a genuine error, a trader re-used an old market as a template for this one, and didn't notice that Mr Ehiogu was included.

"Obviously, that was a mistake, one which was rectified as soon as it was spotted, within minutes."

A spokesman said customers were able to put money on Ehiogu for "less than five minutes" before the error was discovered, adding that nobody actually placed that particular bet.

He added: "We would like to apologise to Mr Ehiogu's family if they did see the tweet.

"It was obviously a mistake and no offence was meant."

AP