Bet site boss: Some users are hooked

THE boss of an online betting company yesterday admitted that some customers were so hooked they should be barred from gambling.

Richard Flint, the chief executive of Skybet, said in ‘extreme cases’ firms should suspend the accounts of customers who find gambling harmful.

He told Radio 4’s Today programme he ‘welcomed’ tighter regulation of the industry to ensure gamblers were protected from falling into addiction, debt, family breakdown and crime.

He added: ‘We can interact with customers where we can see them getting into difficulty and intervene to stop those who are spending doing so excessively.’

Last week, the Government announced that the maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) was to be slashed from £100 to £2.

Amid concerns that high-stakes players may migrate to betting websites, culture minister Tracey Crouch revealed she was considering moves to crack down on the internet gambling industry, including extending betting tax.

In March, Skybet was fined £1million by the gambling regulator for failing to protect its most vulnerable customers.