You’reriskingjobs

Staff at bookies across Lanarkshire would be at risk if a price cap was enforced on FOBTs, according to the Association of British Bookmakers.

In a statement ABB Scotland said betting shops employ almost 820 people in Lanarkshire and contribute over £18 million in taxes and rates.

The association said: “Much of this would be put at risk in the event of a £2 stake.”

The bookies’ body added that a £2 stake would mean a gambler could only bet £6 a minute on an FOBT in a betting shop, whereas it is currently possible to spend up to £48 per minute in adult gaming centres and service stations and £24 a minute in pubs – venues which do not have the safeguards found in betting shops.

An ABB Scotland spokesman said: “The call for a £2 stake on gaming machines in betting shops flies in the face of expert opinion and will have serious social and economic consequences.

“The government’s own independent advisory bodies have described a £2 stake cut as disproportionate and warned of its potentially harmful effect.

“A £2 stake would decimate the retail betting industry, forcing the closure of 500 shops in Scotland and the loss of 2500 jobs, including potentially hundreds in Lanarkshire.

“Local authorities would be deprived of valuable business rates, town centres would be starved of retail investment and funding for nearby Hamilton Racecourse would be cut.

“Significantly, a former leading member of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling has also criticised a £2 stake, warning that it will simply drive gamblers away from betting shops, which have industry-leading safeguards in place, to other less safe forms of gambling such as arcades and pubs which have, at best, a lighttouch approach to responsible gambling.

“That would put more people at risk of harm. Critics should sthink again.”