Not so Lucky Numbers for bingo hall

The owner, Steven Bartle claims that the bingo industry is "no longer viable" and with the news that the double taxation on bingo is to stay, he isn't wrong.

The planning application said "In 11 months we have not been able to find an operator willing to continue running the property as a bingo hall and the building is not considered to be of aesthetic value or of heritage".

Not only are the people of Harrogate going to lose their bingo hall but 9 people will be losing their jobs also, four of which work full time and five part time.

How can they say in their planning application that the bingo hall is "not of heritage"? It was originally opened in 1914 as The Palace theatre and at the end of World War II was mainly used for showing films. The cinema was refurbished in 1947 and renamed The Ritz with it being the first to show Rock Around The Clock in Harrogate with the audience dancing in the aisles. 1962 saw the closure of the cinema but not two weeks later it reopened as the Lucky Numbers bingo hall.

One local resident, Christopher Bateson, is quoted as saying "the loss of the bingo hall will be felt by the community as a whole but mostly by the club members the majority of which are OAP's and all live in the local area."

Personally I think without the smoking ban bingo halls would have continued to prosper but with online bingo available in your own home and the only rules you need to stick to are your own, smoker or non smoker, online bingo suits me far better!