There has been widespread surprise and annoyance declared after it was confirmed  Northern Ireland will not be included in updates to 2005's Gambling Act that will apply in the rest of the UK.

New advertising guidelines will mean that bookmakers and online casinos will now be able to broadcast television adverts in England, Scotland and Wales and will be allowed greater freedoms in press and magazine advertising. Yet gambling firms that are planning a nationwide marketing campaign had better beware, lawyers warn.

James Pond, associate at media specialist law firm Osborne Clarke told said "The exclusion of Northern Ireland from the new gambling laws will cause serious problems for media owners and gambling advertisers who operate across the UK, as they will run the risk of prosecution by the Northern Irish authorities for running gambling adverts."

He warned "Even advertisements which explicitly exclude Northern Irish residents are not risk-free, if they are broadcast on a TV channel transmitted in Northern Ireland or published in a newspaper or magazine with Northern Irish circulation."

A spokesman for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) said: "The IPA is very concerned that the new law does not apply in Northern Ireland. It will, in essence, prevent any UK-wide campaigns in both cases."

Meanwhile the Institute of Sales Promotion (ISP) has branded Northern Ireland's continued exclusion as a "considerable nuisance," and is "surprised" that the changes to the law will not be extended to include Northern Ireland.

The issue may be a redundant one though if the Government make a u-turn on it’s promise to open up the industry of gambling in the U.K. Its now understood that Prime Minister Gordon Brown may not champion the liberalization of the sector in contrast to the commitments voiced by his predecessor Tony Blair.