Ipswich allows fourth gambling venue to open 24 hours

A change in planning permission means Ipswich will now have four adult gambling centres open 24 hours a day. Admiral Slots, at 7 Upper Brook Street, will now be open around the clock. Although the site had previously been granted a 24-hour gambling licence but the original planning permission approval demanded restricted hours to protect neighbouring properties. 

However, since the venue opened, there have been no noise complaints and no anti-social behaviour complaints, leading Ipswich Borough Council’s Planning and Development Committee to allow the venue to open 24 hours a day. 

Admiral Slots joins three other 24-hour gambling facilities, all within a relatively short distance of the town. The other venues are Game Nation on Upper Brook Street, Merkur Slots on Carr Street, and Westgate Street’s Merkur Cashino.

Adult gaming centres are gaming venues that are strictly for adults, offering machines with higher payouts than family gaming centres or arcades. Specifically, while they are allowed to hold any number of gambling machines, these premises are also permitted to hold category B3 gaming machines, which have a maximum stake of £2 and a maximum jackpot of £500. 

Earlier this year, the government shelved plans to relax existing lawsvv on gambling centres. 

According to a recent study, there are more than 1,500 of these gambling centres across the UK. There are concerns regarding their links to problem gambling. Gambling centres are required to offer self-exclusion programmes. 

Centres are supposed to photograph players who register, and submit the photo and personal details to other gaming centres in the local area, although recent investigations suggest poor staff training and loopholes mean that many venues do not actively participate.

Admiral Slots initially applied for a 24-hour licence in 2022 and despite its application being refused in December of that year, it was granted, on appeal, in November 2023. 

However, the application prevented 24-hour operation for the purpose of “protecting neighbouring amenity.” 

At the time of the application, Alexandra Ward’s Councillor, Jane Riley, claimed that granting the application would be “detrimental to the high street when there are already several adult gaming centres and betting shops within a short walking distance from the site.”

Despite Riley’s objections, the council undertook a review of the application and found there had been no complaints of noise by neighbours, including those who lived in flats above the premises. A community safety officer also confirmed there had been no instances of anti-social behaviour relating to the property. 

The planning office concluded that while there are concerns regarding vulnerable people, there was insufficient reason to prevent the awarding of the licence. 

Admiral Slots operates more than 280 family and adult gambling centres across the UK. It is owned by parent company Novomatic, which also operates the Admiral Casino online casino. 

One of Admiral Slots’s biggest competitors, German-owned Merkur, also has a presence in Ipswich, with two adult gaming centres located in the local vicinity of the Admiral site.