How ministers are opening the way for 24-hour gambling

Experts fear this will give problem gamblers the opportunity to lose money round the clock.

They said Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell had ditched her pledge to protect the vulnerable from the dangers of casinos.

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Currently, casinos can open from 2pm until 6am six days a week, closing at 4am on Sundays.

Under the new rules, to come into force in September, all casinos will be allowed to open from noon until 6am seven days a week.

But crucially, ministers have said any casino can apply to its local authority to extend its hours - opening the back door to 24-hour gambling.

A Department of Culture document on the new casino hours, seen by the Daily Mail, says: "No gambling facilities may be offered between 6am and noon on any day."

However, it adds: "All casinos will of course have the opportunity of asking for the default hours to be changed."

Residents would have the right to object to 24-hour opening - but they are unlikely to have much chance of success.

When rights to open all day were extended to pubs, just one in 100 complaints against the extension of opening hours was upheld.

Critics believe local authorities will be powerless to resist requests for 24-hour gambling.

Casinos would be able to argue that staying open throughout the morning would cause fewer noise, traffic or social problems than in the early hours.

A spokesman for Gamblers Anonymous compared 24-hour gambling to handing unlimited supplies of heroin to a drug addict.

"The more gambling opportunities there are for people, the more people will become addicted.

"The more people you get through the doors of casino and the longer they stay open, the faster they will get addicted. If casinos are open 24 hours, some people will stay there 24 hours."

Dr Emanuel Moran, adviser on pathological gambling to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, helped set up Gamblers Anonymous.

He said casino opening hours should not be left to local authorities to decide.

"In the 1960s, prior to the Gaming Act, there was a gambling free-for-all which saw many casinos open 24 hours a day and it had dreadful consequences.

"Casinos have to close each day to ensure gamblers have to take a break. Any move back towards 24-hour gambling would be a recipe for disaster."

Professor Mark Griffiths, of Nottingham Trent University said: "The fear for some individuals is that the combination of gambling and drinking is a heady mix that will exacerbate problem gambling. You are more likely to be reckless."

The GMB and Transport and General Workers Union, which represent casino staff, oppose the move to round-the-clock gaming.

The GMB has written to Sports Minister Richard Caborn asking the Government to restrict the casinos which could operate the extended hours.

It warns: "The extension of the liquor licensing hours recently may be some sort of indicator of the shape of things to come in the casino industry."

Mick Marklow, of the T&G, accused the Government of "sending very mixed messages".

He said: "Once the first casino goes 24 hours, others will be under pressure to follow."

Shadow Culture Secretary Hugo Swire said: "The Government is sending out completely the wrong messages.

"It will be gambling addicts that are more likely to take advantage of these longer hours, and often chase their losses.

"How on earth does this fit in with Tessa Jowell's promise to protect problem gamblers?"

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The push for 24-hour gaming will be seen as further evidence that ministers have bowed to pressure from foreign casino operators to remove safeguards.

The winner of the licence for Britain's first supercasino will be unveiled next week.

A Culture Department spokesman said: "We have established what we believe are standard default hours and left discussion of extensions to local authorities and local people, who are best able to judge what is best for their communities."