Online gambling and spread-betting are now the highest risk areas of addiction for problem gamblers, according to a survey published yesterday.

The long-awaited report from the Gambling Commission shows that richer, younger, and more educated people are turning to new forms of gambling rather than traditional betting on horses and slot machines.

The British Gambling Prevalence survey, which covered 9,000 adults over 16, suggest that 0.6 per cent of the population, 250,000 people, are problem gamblers, a similar proportion to the last survey eight years ago.

Overall 32 million people (68 per cent) said that they had taken part in some form of gambling, including the National Lottery Draw in the past 12 months, compared with 33 million (72 per cent) in 1999. Six per cent of the population used the internet to gamble in the past year. But among problem gamblers, one in six is hooked on spread betting where punters risk losing thousands of pounds.

One in ten is addicted to fixed odds betting terminals, touch-screen machines that allow people to bet on games such as roulette while one in seven is addicted to online gambling and betting.

The researchers carrying out the study admitted that the figures were likely to be an underestimate as the response rate (52 per cent) was far lower than the 1999 survey (more than 65 per cent) and problem gamblers were unlikely to confess to their habit. Organisations representing addicts alleged the questions were edited by industry representatives and that the report was presented in the best light for the betting business. They pointed out that in the past ten years the turnover from gambling had jumped from £15 billion to £70 billion, suggesting a big increase in participants.

The survey will provide baseline data for the new Gambling Act, which comes into effect this month. Under the legislation gambling organisations can advertise on TV and radio for the first time, which is widely expected to lead to increases in participation. Future surveys will be carried out every three years to assess the impact of the legislation.

Mark Griffiths, from Nottingham Trent University, defended his research but conceded that a drop in betting on the National Lottery had concealed rises in other areas. “If you exclude people that only ever played the National Lottery the participation in gambling has gone up from 46 per cent to 48 per cent across the UK.”

Overall, men are more likely than women to gamble, with rates of 71 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.

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