Research shows most people enjoy a flutter

ADULTS in the East Midlands are among the most likely in Britain to gamble.

Two-thirds of people in the region said they had spent money on gambling activities in the past 12 months.

If you exclude those who only play the National Lottery, the rate is joint highest in the UK, along with Scotland, with 49 per cent of people having taken part in some kind of gambling activity in the past year, according to a report from NatCen Social Research.

However, the East Midlands has some of the lowest levels of problem gambling in Britain.

There are potentially more than 19,000 problem gamblers across the region, 0.5 per cent of the population, as well as 127,000 people at risk of problem gambling, 3.3 per cent.

The number of adult problem gamblers in Great Britain is approximately 430,000 based on two common ways of identifying the problem.

As well as this, another 1.4m people were identified as low-risk gamblers and 550,000 were identified as moderate-risk gamblers, according to the report by NatCen Social Research.

Released last month, the report said the majority of British people have gambled at some point, be it buying a ticket for the Lottery or having a flutter on the Grand National.

Most of those who gamble have no issues with keeping their gambling within sensible and affordable limits.

However, for some, gambling can be problem- atic, affecting their ability to live and work.

People with gambling problems often experience a range of negative effects, including health issues, relationship breakdown, and difficulties with debt.

In more severe cases gambling problems can lead to crime, thoughts of suicide or suicide itself.

The research is based on responses to specific gambling questions in the Health Survey for England and the Scottish Health Survey.

The highest rates of problem gambling were among those who had participated in spread betting, with 20.1 per cent of this group classed as problem gamblers, betting via a betting exchange, 16.2 per cent, playing poker in pubs or clubs, 15.9 per cent, betting offline on events other than sports or horse or dog racing, 15.5 per cent, and playing machines in bookmakers, 11.5 per cent.

Problem gambling was more prevalent among people who had participated in a number of gambling activities in the past year - 11.9 per cent of those who participated in seven or more activities were problem gamblers compared to 0.3 per cent of those who had taken part in just one gambling activity in the last year.

The highest overall prevalence of at-risk gambling was observed among those who participated in online gambling on slots, casino or bingo games (34.9 per cent) followed by gambling on machines in bookmakers (31.7 per cent) and spreadbetting (28.7 per cent).

The prevalence of both low risk and moderate risk gambling increased with the number of gambling activities undertaken - 1.7 per cent of those who participated in one gambling activity were at-risk gamblers, one in six (16.4 per cent) of those who participated in four to six activities were at-risk gamblers, as were more than one in three of those who participated in seven or more activities (36.2 per cent).

Nearly two-thirds, 63 per cent, of over 16s in Great Britain had gambled in the past year, with men (66 per cent) being more likely than women (59 per cent) to do so.

The most popular gambling activities were the National Lottery draws (46 per cent), scratchcards (23 per cent), other lotteries (15 per cent) and placing bets offline on horse racing (11 per cent). Excluding those who only played the National Lottery draws, just under half of adults (45 per cent) participated in other types of gambling activity; 49 per cent of men and 42 per cent of women.