Four adult gaming centres are now operating within a short stretch of Fore Street in Angel Edmonton, one of the most deprived areas of the UK, report Finn Logue and James Cracknell

Adult gaming centres in Angel Edmonton include Little Vegas, Merkur Slots and two branches of Admiral, all along the same short stretch of Fore Street — Adult gaming centres in Angel Edmonton include Little Vegas, Merkur Slots and two branches of Admiral

A community group has warned “more needs to be done” to stop gambling companies “preying” on the poorest parts of the borough.

Adult gaming centres (AGCs) contain numerous slot machines and arcade-style games and typically open 24 hours – using legal loopholes to avoid gambling regulation and scrutiny.

While many traditional bookies are withdrawing from the high street amid shifts toward online gambling, AGCs are on the rise. In Angel Edmonton, along a half-mile stretch of Fore Street, there are eight gambling venues in total – half of which are now AGCs.

It means the number of gambling premises in the area has doubled in a decade.

Parts of Angel Edmonton were recently ranked among the 2% of most deprived neighbourhoods in the country. The area is also ethnically diverse, with large numbers of people from Eastern Europe.

All four of Fore Street’s AGCs are open 24 hours, seven days a week, and appear to be targeting vulnerable communities. On a visit last month the Dispatch found one AGC, Little Vegas, listing a job for a Romanian-speaking supervisor, while the shop’s welcome signs use five different Eastern European languages.

The Residents of Edmonton Angel Community Together (React) group is calling for action to prevent AGCs – described as “high street sinkholes” – exploiting vulnerable people in the community.

Cellina Doswell, React’s vice-chair, told the Dispatch: “What we are seeing is the proliferation of gambling shops that offer no socioeconomic benefits to the community.

“The operators say they create jobs, but their impacts are detrimental. They prey on people with compulsive and addictive behaviours, who go in and out of the shops all day and night hoping for their luck to change.”

Cellina accused AGC operators of using “predatory” techniques to target impoverished communities and flood high streets with gambling venues, reaping cycles of addiction that breed further social issues – with addicts also having lower life expectancies.

According to the Social Market Foundation, AGCs use licensing loopholes under the Gambling Act 2005 to self-declare as bingo halls and duck regulation. The group’s research revealed one third of AGCs are situated in areas within the top 10% of poorest neighbourhoods, while more than half are concentrated in the top 20%.

Asked to respond to the rise of AGCs in deprived areas, Susan Erbil, Enfield Council’s cabinet member for planning and regulatory services, said: “We are working hard to prevent more gambling related shops from opening on our high streets but, as a local authority, our powers are very limited due to existing laws around licensing and gambling premises.

“We know many local people are worried about these types of venues opening in the borough. We share those concerns and can assure residents we are doing everything in our power to prevent more gambling premises on our high streets.”

Cllr Erbil said the council’s new gambling policy identifies Angel Edmonton as a “gambling vulnerability area” where potential new operators “must demonstrate robust measures to protect vulnerable people”. She added: “We want our town centres to be lively, safe, and welcoming. We don’t believe gambling shops help achieve that. But under the current law, if this type of business meets all the legal requirements, the council cannot refuse the application.”

Cellina said React had spoken directly with the council but felt more needed to be done both locally and nationally – suggesting there should be a cap on the number of betting shops on each high street.

Last week the BBC Shared Data Unit reported that AGCs were “clustered” in disadvantaged neighbourhoods across the country, with Gambling Commission data showing 664 of about 1,400 such premises are in the top 20% of deprived areas.

In response to the BBC article Allastar Gair, communications director at Bacta, an industry body representing AGCs, said: “A new AGC does not open without a full licensing process, council oversight and a detailed risk assessment.

“Operators do not target deprived areas; they take on long term empty units and invest in high streets that need regeneration.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson also told the BBC the government was intending to give councils the power to limit AGCs and added: “We’ll do everything we can to halt the decline people are seeing in their towns and high streets.”

Little Vegas was approached for comment for this article but did not respond.

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