THE ‘clustering’ of adult gaming venues in Barnsley town centre has been labelled as a cause for concern by industry experts who have called for more precautions to be taken.
A study into the prominence of gambling-led arcades which require consent from Barnsley Council looked into the locations in which they are allowed to operate and levels of local deprivation.
Storeys on Peel Square, Merkur Slots on Peel Street and Nobles Amusements on Cheapside are all within a stone’s throw of each other in the town centre.
Anna Hargrave, chief executive of Gamble Aware, said: “Our research has shown those in the most deprived areas are two times more likely to experience gambling harms, so we are concerned by the clustering of gambling venues in the most deprived areas of the country.
“While it is important to remember that all forms of gambling carry risks, our research has also shown the high level of harms associated with gaming machines such as slot machines in gambling venues, with one in two people using gaming machines in the past year experiencing ‘problem gambling’.
“Local authorities need to be given more powers so that they can control the number of gambling venues in their areas.”
