Casino News

Government 'must step in' to save seaside arcades

2008-12-17 07:32:33

The British government must take action to protect seaside arcades by increasing the prize levels on category C machines, it has been claimed.

Nick Harding, president of the British Amusement Catering Trade Association (Bacta), stated that one of the major problems in the industry at present is that companies are not purchasing equipment because they are waiting to see if the government will change the prize levels, as they promised earlier this year.

"The last thing you want to do is spend £5,000 on a new machine, only to find that the following week that stake and prize levels have been changed and the machine is now out-of-date," he remarked.

As such, the market is stagnant, with arcades reluctant to make a purchase in case they get it wrong.

The maximum stake for a category C machine is 50p at present, with the top prize limited to £35.

Since 2004, 32,015 of these slot machines have left the marketplace, a reduction of 22 per cent on the overall number, according to Bacta statistics.