Sub-committee rejects bookmaker plan to split premises into standalone outlets

A borough council’s licensing sub-committee has turned down a bookmaker’s plan to split its premises in the town into two separate outlets, it has been reported.

The Gloucestershire Echo said Ladbrokes believed the £280,000 plan would boost trade, with the different betting offices appealing to different age groups.

The company’s counsel, Jeremy Phillips, told the committee at Cheltenham Borough Council: "It is neither unlawful nor contrary to the Gambling Commission's policy to reconfigure the layout of these units. If this application is permitted both premises would be stand-alone, separate betting offices."

However, the move was challenged by rival bookmakers William Hill, which claimed that it would allow Ladbrokes to have eight gambling machines rather than four.

William Hill’s barrister, Philip Kolvin QC of Cornerstone Barristers, said one of the objectives of the Gambling Act was to limit the number of high-stakes machines.

According to the Gloucestershire Echo, Kolvin told the sub-committee: “My client is extremely concerned this application is in direct contravention of what Parliament tried to achieve in limiting the proliferation of these machines. If authorities show they are persuadable to this, it will encourage people across the country to submit similar applications."

The sub-committee rejected Ladbroke’s proposals.