THE Chancellor has been urged not to delay the cut in Fixed Odds Betting Terminal Stakes in his budget this month.

The Government is to cut the maximum stake per play from £100 to £2 in a bid to cut the harm caused to problem gamblers.

The All Party Croup on FOBTs at Westminser is concerned it could be delayed by two years when Philip Hammond reveals his budget plans.

Ronnie Cowan MP, Chair of the APG said: “I’m deeply concerned that the UK government, through HM Treasury, could kick into the long grass the implementation date for the stake reduction on FOBTs as late as April 2020 - almost a full two years after making the stake reduction announcement.

“It is now 700 days since the UK government first began consulting on this issue and over £3.5bn has been lost, often by some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”

Glasgow has 800 FOBTs in its 200 betting shops and an estimated £30m a year is lost in stake money.

There have been concerns that the machines are often clustered in deprived areas

Mr Cowan added: “Further delays only serve to line the pockets of the bookmakers and does little to support those whose lives have been devastated by the addictive nature of these machines. “