Fifth Spalding bookies would only make gambling easier, warns recovering addict
Giving the green light to a fifth town centre bookies would only make gambling ‘more accessible’, a recovering addict says.
Matt Amess placed bets worth £80,000 over a seven-year period and once hid winnings worth £4,000 in cash in a sock in his car for fear of his habit being discovered by loved ones.
Thankfully the former Pinchbeck resident hopes to have turned his back on gambling, having not made a bet for a number of years.
However, he knows only too well the dangers than can entrap others.
Now, following the news that BoyleSports has made an application to operate from Spalding’s former Barclays bank building in Spalding, Matt fears more betting shops will mean greater temptation for others.
“It makes it easier, more accessible,” said the 29-year-old, who has signed up to work as a volunteer to help others with betting problems.
The town currently has four bookmakers - two Ladbrokes, one William Hill and a BetFred - all within a less than a minute’s walk from one another.
The town centre also has a Merkur Slots casino and a New Horizon adult gaming centre.
The vacant former Barclays building in Hall Place sits across the road from one of the town’s two Ladbrokes shops.
“I don’t know why you’d need another one pretty much opposite (another bookies),” Matt added.
“Then you’ve got William Hill the other side of the road and Ladbrokes there.”
South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes and South Holland district councillor Gary Taylor have already spoken out against a fifth bookies being opened in the town centre.
However, Matt - who will soon begin helping others battle their addiction after signing up to work with support network GamCare - fears that the rise of internet shopping and decline of the modern town centre will make it easier for more bookies to open up.
“With the way the world is now, a lot of shops are closing down,” he added.
“The high street in Spalding, as in many places, hasn’t got much.
“It makes it easier for these spaces to be filled by betting shops. At the end of the day, something has to go in there.”