Telegraph & Argus – Bradford has some of the highest concentrations of betting shops in UK, according to a study. An analysis commissioned by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling and carried out by geographic information specialists, Geofutures, put the city among nine areas with the highest density of betting shops in the country.
The analysis revealed that when measured against other shopping areas, a 500 square metre area around the central part of the city centre near Market Street in Bradford has some of the highest densities of betting shops anywhere in the country.
With 12 betting shops in just the BD1 postcode area of Bradford and ten in the centre of Rotherham, the two towns are among the nine areas of highest density. The campaign group claimed the trend for betting shops to cluster on high streets had been driven by what it called “highly addictive” Fixed Odds Betting Terminals.
Adrian Parkinson, consultant for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, said: “We reported last month that across Yorkshire £3.1 billion was gambled on FOBTs in 2013. The addictive nature of these machines is the driving force behind betting shops today.”
