Global Betting And Gambling Consultants Boss Speaks Out

Gambling boss claims that the credit crunch has had an effect on the amount of people playing the National Lottery.

Sections of the gambling industry have been affected by the current economic turmoil, according to one expert in the sector.

Warwick Bartlett, managing director of Global Betting and Gambling Consultants, has suggested that the National Lottery is not achieving "the growth that it used to" because of inflation and rising houses prices, among other things.

The credit crunch will not help boost the lottery because people can only spend what they have in their pockets, he added.

"When the lottery came out, two to four million pounds was quite a lot to win, but with the inflation we've had since 1994 and the explosion in house prices the prize doesn't seem as big as it used to," Mr Bartlett explained.

The recently published National Lottery Commission Annual Report found that Lotto ticket sales dropped from £2.857 billion in 2006-07 to £2.752 billion in 2007-08.