The level of support for a voluntary scheme to fund support services for those battling gambling addition is “unacceptable” according to Culture Secretary Andy Burnham.

Only 360 gambling firms out of 3,800 have paid any money this year and if that does not improve, Mr. Burnham said, a compulsory levy could be introduced.
 
His warning comes as experts say a rising number of women are becoming addicted to gambling.
 
Mr. Burnham said he expected greater action on the issue of companies putting a percentage of their profits towards support services.

"Regulators, legislators, operators and owners all have a duty to act in a socially responsible manner, accepting that, for some, gambling is an addiction, not a leisure pursuit," he said.

"Unless the industry delivers a substantial increase in contributions by the end of this year, and makes contributions in a timely fashion, I will seek the approval for a statutory levy, at a rate to be determined."

Psychology professor Ross Corney, of Greenwich University, has given her backing to a compulsory levy as she believes there is not enough support for women gamblers.
For the past year, she has been researching what she says is the growing problem of women addicts.

She believes the increase is being partly driven by a growth in bingo websites and online betting.

Prof Corney said she had interviewed one woman who had gambled £70,000 and others who had lost their homes.

"Gambling affects their mental health, it affects their self-esteem," she said.

"Many of the women have felt suicidal, they just don't know where to turn next. They can't stop and they know they are getting themselves deeper and deeper into trouble."

Vicky Clarke, from Sheffield, lost £25,000 in two months. For her, it was a way of blocking out all the other problems in her life.

She said: "I was fed up and this took me away from realism. I was just in a little world all on my own. I wanted to stop but it was as though it was somebody else inside my body that was making me continue with it."