LEAGUE sponsors Blue Square have paid out on Burton Albion as winners of the Blue Square Premier after the club moved 19 points clear at the top of the table with a 2-1 over the Dragons on Tuesday night.

The Brewers were 14/1 at the start of the season but quickly made up for last season's play-off heartache as they went on a fantastic run under Nigel Clough.

They have managed to deal with Clough's subsequent departure by keeping up the frantic pace under caretaker boss Roy McFarland as they head towards the Football League for the first time in their history.

Albion extended their record-breaking unbeaten league run to 16 games on Tuesday night at home to Dean Saunders' Wrexham, despite going a goal behind early on.

With 14 Blue Square Premier matches remaining the sponsors have decided to reward Burton's backers early.

Blue Square spokesman Alan Alger said: "Everything has gone right for Burton this season and there has been a smooth transition between the two managers.

"They have been looking truly unbeatable and could even call on lady luck when their match against Ebbsfleet was called off whilst they were trailing, due to bad weather last week.

"Paying out also acts as a challenge to other clubs in the league to force us to dip into our pockets twice by overhauling the Champions elect.

"We'll be paying out around £40,000 to their backers, but overall they've been a fantastic result and we'll turn in a good profit at the end of the season providing they hold on.

"We've taken a remarkable amount of bets on the division, turning over more than the Championship, League 1 and League 2 combined, it looks like we've had another runaway winner, but the excitement has been there for all to see."