A gaming company has applied to extend its licence to allow 24-hour gambling at its business in Brighton. It currently closes at midnight.
Sussex Police objected to the application by Merkur Slots to Brighton and Hove City Council for a “variation of a bingo licence” at 9-10 St James’s Street.
The objection was made on the grounds of preventing crime and disorder and protecting children and other vulnerable people from gambling.
As a result of the objection, the application went before a council licensing panel, made up of three councillors, at a virtual hearing on Tuesday 27 June.
Sussex Police licensing officer Mark Thorogood raised concerns about staff safety – and customers becoming the victims of crime.
He said: “Customers could become targeted when leaving the venue throughout the night – targeted randomly or being followed having left the premises, with perpetrators taking the chance they might have winnings on them.
“Unfortunately, there are no conditions that could be offered up that could reduce the risk once the person has left the venue.”
Should the application be granted, Mr Thorogood asked for a licence condition requiring two staff to be on duty after midnight.
He said that a lone staff member would be at risk if they had to deal with “unruly” people under the influence of drink and drugs.
The licence does not include drink sales but the panel was told that the level of alcohol-related crime in the old Queen’s Park ward, which included St James’s Street, was the third highest in Brighton and Hove.
Merkur’s barrister Philip Kolvin said that the adult gaming centres had “low usage” and were not “thrumming casinos”.
He said: “There are concerns raised that customers might be mugged coming out of adult gaming centres. That’s not my client’s experience.
“If it were an issue in this location, it would have manifested at some point during my client’s trade until midnight.
“You don’t prevent any retail or service premises from opening because its customers might be accosted in the street later. You just wouldn’t have a night-time economy at all.”
Councillors were told that the company planned to operate with two staff overnight.
Merkur, part of the Gauselmann Group, a German casinos and gambling business, has a 24-hour security operation with CCTV and a radio link allowing staff to communicate with the support team from the shop floor.
The panel – councillors Julie Cattell, Paul Nann and Kerry Pickett – retired to decide the application and their decision should be made public within five working days.
“There are concerns raised that customers might be mugged coming out of adult gaming centres. That’s not my client’s experience.”
They’re being”mugged” inside these places already!
It’s ridiculous how many gambling places there are in such a short distance from each other in St James’s Street. You have two with slot machines and two for placing bets. No wonder St James’s street always looks so rough, lots of fast food outlets and gambling places.
Las Vegas says hello.
No thanks. Not needed. How will this benefit the area.
Those are not any of the grounds for refusal, Sarah.
“A third of a million people in the UK are problem gamblers. 55,000 of them are children. On average a problem gambler commits suicide every day.
For each problem gambler six other people, some two million people, suffer harm such as the breakup of families, crime, loss of employment, loss of homes and, ultimately, loss of life.” – House of Lords report.
If these gambling emporia are allowed to operate why not also allow places to openly sell heroin or crack – after all gambling is just another addictive, destructive drug…
In-game purchases in computer games are how children get addicted to gambling. There are loads on loot boxes and similar monetisation practices.