Gambling campaigner 'stunned' by clampdown

The daughter of a woman who lost £30,000 in a slot machine addiction has said she is "stunned" after a clampdown on gambling was announced.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said councils will get more powers to block new betting shops under government plans aimed at improving high streets.

Jackie Olden said her late mother Wendy Hughes got hooked after working at a bookmakers. She started a campaign against gambling just before her mother died from cancer in 2024 at the age of 64.

The 44-year-old said: "I am flabbergasted that it has has happened so soon - I thought it would take another 10 years."

Hughes was asked to play the machines on a free demonstration mode to help drum up customer interest.

She then continued gambling after being diagnosed with cancer in April 2023 and became progressively more unwell.

In November of the same year, she lost almost £2,000 in two sessions at the Merkur slots venue.

It prompted Hughes, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, to begin playing slots in her own time before spiralling into debt.

Olden said: "My mum didn't dare take a day off.

"If they had acted as they should have, she might have been diagnosed sooner.

"She was never someone who would have gambled before this."

She added: "I am ecstatic that the government has acted so quickly.

"I am so grateful to Andy Burnham."

The German company Merkur was fined £95,450 by the Gambling Commission following a complaint by Hughes, which found the operator failed "to follow rules aimed at keeping consumers safe from harm".

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