Council call to stack the odds against bet shops

OLDHAM Council is demanding action over the plague of fixed odds betting terminals which has seen local punters lose more than £5.5m in the last year.

The council has joined 62 local authorities calling for a change in planning laws to make it more difficult for new betting shops to open.

They are currently classed as A2 financial services, the same as banks and estate agents, allowing them to move into premises without changing use.

The authority want betting shops in their own category, enabling them to refuse new applications — a move backed by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG)

Matt Zarb-Cousin, from CFG, said: “Putting betting shops in their own class would be a welcome step in the right direction.”

The spread of betting shops has been blamed on the machines, dubbed the “crack cocaine of gambling”, as a way of circumventing regulations limiting bookmakers to four machines per outlet.

According to the CFG, last year an estimated 4 per cent of the borough’s population — some 7,180 gamblers — fed £29,321,760 into the machines, losing £5,571,134.

At present, it is possible to stake up to £100 every 20 seconds on the machines, which have brought high-speed casino games to the high street.

Councillor Jim McMahon, Oldham Council leader, has campaigned hard against the surge in high street bookmakers, fuelled by the terminals, which he believes is hitting the most vulnerable the hardest.

He said: “The wave of betting shops blights high streets and targets the most vulnerable in testing economic times.

“We believe planning laws need updating to reflect recent changes in the betting industry.”