Is UK Bingo Under Threat ?

The UK's bingo industry could be in real trouble due to bingo player numbers in just 12 months, killed off by the bingo hall smoking ban. A total of 20,000 UK bingo jobs are at risk unless the Government takes action, Bingo industry chiefs warned.

They revealed a third of the UK 548 bingo halls are under threat of closure.

Bingo giant Mecca Bingo has frozen all Bingo hall expansion plans and cancelled dividend payments to shareholders, with its share price halved compared to the same time last year.

Bingo halls have lost 600,000 players since the smoking ban on bingo halls in England and Wales. Smokers who remain are playing less because they spend time outside to smoke.

Before the ban, three million people were playing offline bingo in an average week. Now experts fear the industry could be wiped out in 2008. Steve Baldwin of the UK Bingo Association said: "It's frightening to think that a pastime bingo that has given pleasure to millions could disappear within a year."