Hundreds of 24-hour slot machine halls spring up across Britain

Fears are mounting amid the alarming rise of ‘under the radar’ 24-hour UG8 Slot Gacor machine halls taking over UK high streets.

Over a staggering 300 slot machine centres are operating throughout the night, despite urgent warnings of the risks they pose to gamblers.

Two of the nation’s leading slot machine operators – Merkur and Admiral – have opened several 24-hour halls in disused retail units across the country over the last few years with the two firms running more than 500 venues across Britain.

Local residents often strongly oppose the opening of the centres, but council planning committees do not block the applications.

Now, campaigners are calling for stricter regulations to curb the sector’s growth.

Two of the nation’s leading slot machine operators – Merkur (pictured) and Admiral – have opened several 24-hour halls in disused retail units across the country over the last few years

Liz Ritchie MBE, from the charity Gambling with Lives, told MailOnline: ‘Anything that increases access to highly addictive machines cannot be seen as a positive’. Pictured: General view of the fan zone at the Admiral Casino in Gibraltar

Nick Harvey, from the charity Gambling with Lives, said the introduction of 24-hour slot machine halls had gone ‘under the radar’, highlighting their dangers as they ‘contain the most addictive gambling products out there, causing misery to communities while bringing little to no economic benefit to the local area’.

In shocking statistic from last year, published by the Gambling Commission, UG8 Slot Gacor it was revealed that around 2.5 per cent of the adult population may be suffering with problem gambling.

The commission had, however, previously put the proportion of people suffering from a gambling problem significantly lower, at 0.3 per cent.

On Tuesday, during a council planning committee in Greenwich, participants discussed an application for a new 24-hour Merkur Slots hall in Eltham, south east London – but more than 60 locals objected.

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An open latter from Labour councillors Lauren Dingsdale and Sammy Backon, read: ‘Allowing planning permission for this premises would encourage vulnerable individuals to gamble more than they can afford.’ 

Councillors ultimately rejected the application, but Merkur has already put forth an appeal, arguing that the local authority had not reached a final decision within the eight-week period.

Merkur runs 24-hour slot halls across the UK and increased revenues last year by a whopping 17 per cent to £202million.

MailOnline has contacted Merkur and Admiral for comment. 

It comes after the government announced it intends to let people use debit cards to gamble on slot machines, with a transaction limit of £100 per direct card payment.

It was revealed in May that there would also be a cap on the amount an individual can deposit into a machine in one go and staff will also be made aware when someone has reached their limit.

Apple Pay is allowed, but other contactless payments remain banned.

Gambling with Lives issued a statement at the time criticising the move, stating ‘anything that increases access’ to slot machines cannot be seen as a positive.

But ministers argued the proposals will allow pubs and casinos to compete in an increasingly cashless society.

Liz Ritchie MBE, from the charity, told MailOnline: ‘Slots venues are taking over our high streets and now they’ll be allowed even more machines and be even easier to play with debit cards.

‘Anything that increases access to highly addictive machines cannot be seen as a positive.

‘We instead need to look at how we make these machines safer, by reducing deposit limits and slowing spin speeds.’

LondonLabour