'Gambling addiction cost my sick mum thousands'

The daughter of a woman who became addicted to slot machines and lost thousands while undergoing cancer treatment is calling on the government to introduce tougher controls.

Jackie Olden said her late mother Wendy Hughes got hooked after working at a bookmakers where she was asked to play the machines on a free demonstration mode to help drum up customer interest.

She said it prompted Ms Hughes, who died from cancer in 2024 at the age of 64, to begin playing slots in her own time before spiralling into debt.

Ms Olden said: "My mum was never someone who would have gambled before this, she was absolutely dedicated to her family."

She said her mother, a widow, had worked hard to make ends meet while raising her three children in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

"She had her own house and some money saved but all of that just went and it went really, really, really quickly," Ms Olden said.

Ms Hughes's children intervened in an attempt to get her excluded from gambling outlets but she relapsed years later after discovering 24-hour adult gaming centres.

Ms Olden said: "When I found out, I was absolutely flabbergasted to hear that there are 24-hour slot machine places on almost every high street in the UK.

"In Stockport, where I live, there are three of them."

Ms Hughes 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 pounds in two sessions at the Merkur slots venue in Stockport.

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

In a bid to protect others, Ms Olden earlier delivered a petition with more than 40,000 signatures to Downing Street, calling on the government to give local government stronger powers to refuse licences for gambling venues where concerns are raised.

She said: "I'm not an anti-gambling purist or someone who wants to tell people what to do, but these places are so dangerous.

"The products in there are known to be the most harmful, the most addictive and I just think we need to regulate them way more tightly."

Merkur said the the failure was "due to premises staff not implementing our policies and procedures effectively".

They continued: "Customer welfare is our priority and we have conducted a thorough internal review.

"As a result, we have strengthened training for our 1,840 venue-based staff as well as enhancing reporting procedures to ensure our high standards are upheld."

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