IT was interesting and encouraging to see Warrington Borough Council sharing the news on its social media channels recently that seven new gambling addiction clinics will open this summer.

The NHS plans to treat up to 3,000 recovering gambling addicts a year across a total of 15 clinics.

There is an existing facility in Manchester and one of the new clinics is in Liverpool, so help is relatively close at hand for people in Warrington – but it would be even better if there was some kind of satellite service in the town too.

I am not a gambler, and there is no history of gambling in my family, but I know the damage addiction can cause as my late father was an alcoholic.

I have become increasingly frustrated with being bombarded by gambling adverts on streaming services like NOW TV.

They tend to portray betting as flamboyant, care-free fun with ‘please bet responsibly’ messages as small and unimposing as legally possible.

I accept that a flutter is harmless for a lot of people, but the reality is there are between 117 and 496 suicides each year associated with problem gambling, according to official government figures.

Simply put – gambling destroys lives and families.

Add to that the fact that more than half of the UK public would support a total ban on gambling ads – according to a new survey by charity Gambling With Lives –it is mindboggling that there are currently so little restrictions.

Perhaps it is because there were 3.3billion UK tax receipts for betting and gaming in 2022/23. That is more than double what it was 20 years ago, presumably due to the rise of digital betting.

I am not calling for a ban on gambling, but I am simply arguing that advertising and promotion around it should be heavily restricted like it is for tobacco.

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