Betting shops ‘a crime magnet’

THE spread of ‘crack cocaine’ gambling machines has turned betting shops into magnets for crime, a study reveals today.

It shows police were called to incidents at betting shops more than 20,000 times in the two years to March 2016 and that they now rival nightclubs for crime levels.

The study by the Church of England also found money laundering has become routine in betting shops. The growth of money laundering suggests a link between crime and the presence of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs), which can accept stakes of £100 every 20 seconds and are highly addictive.

The machines are said to be used by street drug dealers to turn the proceeds of their illegal trade into ‘clean’ money.

The Church figures, obtained from police forces, showed officers across the country were called to betting shops to deal with crimes including robberies, arson and money laundering.