Edinburgh Bingo Halls Struggling For Survival

Bingo manager says that attendance at Edinburgh club has fallen by 50 per cent in two years

A bingo manager from Edinburgh has explained how the recent tax hike is making it increasingly difficult for numbers game operators to make ends meet.

Phil Thomson, manager of the Royal Bingo Club in the Gilmerton area of the Scottish capital, told the Edinburgh News that the government's bingo tax regime is damaging an already vulnerable industry.

He said that attendance levels at the bingo venue have dropped by approximately 50 per cent in the last two years, mainly as a result of the smoking ban and the recession.

"In 2006 we had about 1,500 people coming through our doors, but now it is down to 700," Mr Thomson told the newspaper.

He explained: "It dramatically decreased because of the smoking ban … But then people started coming back, I think because they missed the atmosphere and the feeling of community.

"Now the government has hit a hard blow increasing our tax rates and we're struggling again."

There are currently eight bingo halls operating in Edinburgh, with two venues - the Carlton Bingo Club on Gorgie Road and the Gala Bingo in West Granton - closing down in recent years.

Gala Bingo shut down its venue in Leven, Fife this summer during a spate of closures across the UK.