A businessman who lives in Wimbledon had his celebrity-backed debut novel picked up by a film producer before it was even published.

Multi-millionaire Andrew Croker released his comedy thriller Three in a Bed, about a tabloid news editor who picks uncovers a major scoop, on Tuesday.

The film rights have already been sold to Andrew Eaton at Revolution Films, whose hits include 24 Hour Party People, Rush and the BBC2 series The Trip.

Croker, 62, who lives in North View, said: “Selling the film rights before the book was launched was a massive buzz. That is a dream come true for a first time novelist.

“We are a long way from the opening credits but the word-of-mouth on the book already has been incredible and I have been thrilled with the reaction.

"It is an action-packed romp - the kind of book you pick up at an airport and cannot put down for the rest of your holiday.”

The author grew up alongside some of the biggest names in football in when his father, Ted Croker, was chief executive of the FA in the 1970s and 80s and used those experiences to launch a highly successful career in sports management.

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He started Britain’s first sports TV channel BSB, merged with Sky and ran the football division of the world’s top sports agency, IMG.

More recently he has worked with ball tracking wizards Hawk-Eye to get goal-line technology into football.

His nephew is 21-year-old Spurs and England star Eric Dier.

Croker raised £15,000 to write the book through crowd funding, with backers including Elisabeth Murdoch and ex-Arsenal defender Lee Dixon.

Three in a Bed was written over two years and  is set a few days after the hacking trial, in the summer of 2014.

Croker said: “It's set against the background of real events, particularly the unsavoury threesome that involved our politicians, the police and the press. What Gordon Brown called the criminal media nexus.

“But ignore the dodgy metaphor. This really is about three in a bed, a sensational, full blown political sex scandal.

“It really is the first novel to explore the media world after the Leveson Inquiry. Journalists are so used to seeing their profession being portrayed negatively in TV, films and books.

“I have so many friends working in journalism and I know how it really works. This shows all the flaws of the tabloid world but its good side, too. For once, the journalist is not the villain.”

Three in a Bed is out now.