Cambridge bingo hall to join trend of closures
Posted by Epiphany Solutions on 30 Apr 2009 at 10:04
A venue in Cambridge is to join the UK's growing list of bingo hall closures after the sector was hit by the smoking ban and increased taxes.
The Cambridge Evening News reports the Gala bingo site in Hobson Street will close its doors on May 25. The building is a former cinema first converted into a bingo hall in 1972.
It has been sold to a property developer and its planned closure has saddened its regular players.
Quoted by the Evening News, Helen Hopcraft, who won £24,000 at the hall three years ago said: "It's a real shame.
"The last time I was there it was half as full as it used to be. It's a blow for bingo lovers.
"I think it all started because of the smoking ban because a lot of the older people liked to smoke during the sessions. I just hope it opens up somewhere else."
She added her win went on a holiday in Mexico, money for her children and a house renovation.
The paper adds Gala Coral is in talks with 12 members of staff and the manager at the venue. A spokesman from the company was quoted as saying the firm hopes to find jobs within the company for the staff affected.
Gala bingo, Britain's biggest bingo operator, is among firms which have seen profits from bingo slump after the introduction of the country's smoking ban and higher tax on the game.
Another unnamed user of the hall said a lot of people would be "disappointed" at the closure and said people would have to travel to another town to get to another bingo hall.
The paper also listed some big jackpots scooped over the years at the hall. These include a pensioner winning £10,000 in 2007 after playing the game for three decades. In 2003 an 81-year-old woman won the national prize of £200,000.
