More than £124 million was lost on fixed odds betting terminals in Croydon between 2008 and 2016, according to campaigners.
Fairer Gambling has released statistics compiled by economist Howard Reed as part of its Stop the FOBTs initiative, relating to the 271 terminals in 75 betting shops across the borough.
A spokesman for Fairer Gambling said: “They are only estimates, but they are about as accurate as it gets.”
Cash inserted in 2016: £73,492,437
Amount gambled in 2016: £395,120,621
Amount lost in 2016: £18,373,109
Cumulative amount lost 2008-2016: £124,475,060
These figures are estimates based on Gambling Commission industry statistics, taking into account regional variations based on data from the Responsible Gambling Trust (now GambleAware) and betting shop mapping by Geofutures from June 2016.
Punters can currently stake up to £100 every 20 seconds on the machines, and campaigners are arguing to significantly reduce that to help combat the effects of gambling addictions.
A long-awaited review into FOBTs, which took a record £1.8billion nationwide last year, was delayed until the autumn.
A spokesman for Fairer Gambling said: “These figures reveal the shocking scale of the havoc FOBTs are causing on Britain's high streets. The bizarre experiment to allow high stakes casino gambling in betting shops has failed. Enough is enough. The government must commit to reducing the maximum stake on FOBTs to £2 a spin when they respond to the review in October.”
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