Britain's leading bookmakers have warned the Government that any attempt to increase taxes or regulation at the Budget will lead to betting shop closures and job losses, as well as further undermining their ability to compete with offshore rivals. In meetings with Gerry Sutcliffe, Minister for Sport, and Angela Eagle, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, some bookies have also hinted that any regressive move from the Government could force them to relocate parts of their business offshore.

Bookmaker William Hill plans to close 14 shops in the Republic next month with the loss of 53 jobs. It confirmed yesterday that it was closing 14 outlets in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Wexford and Waterford. Its statement said this would put a number of jobs at risk of redundancy. It is understood that up to 53 staff will be laid off as a result. The British-based bookmaker blamed the economic downturn and the proposal to double betting turnover tax to 2 per cent from next May.

Local Australian newspaper The Age reported that a number of major corporate bookmakers are working jointly to produce figures that show they will contribute around USD 9.7 million to the racing industry in the 2008 fiscal year. The bookmakers are cooperating, the paper says, in an effort to deflect criticism from certain members of the racing industry that, because the corporate bookies compete directly with the TAB, racing’s financial future is being threatened.

British bookmakers are facing the prospect of a tax-rate increase as Her Majesty’s Treasury looks to generate income amid the economic downturn. Reuters reports Chancellor Alistair Darling’s pre-budget report is due to be released this week, and analysts are saying that gambling profits - especially those derived from fixed odds betting terminals - are “easy targets” in the current environment.

London (Reuters) - The government said on Wednesday it would not go ahead with the planned sale of state-owned bookmaker, the Tote, this autumn due to market conditions. "I have now concluded that it is not appropriate to pursue a sale in these market conditions. I have therefore decided that the Tote should be retained in public ownership for the medium term, and brought to the market when conditions are likely to deliver value for the taxpayer and racing,"...

The doubling of betting tax will put bookmakers out of business and lead to job losses, industry figures warned yesterday. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan yesterday announced that the Government will double the current 1 per cent levy on bookies' turnover to 2 per cent, which will net the exchequer EUR 40 million. He is also proposing to cut the Horse and Greyhound Fund - which is linked to the betting tax and supports both racing codes - by 9 per cent next year, to EUR 55 million.

In Norway, the District Court of Oslo has thrown out a bid from British bookmaker Ladbrokes that would have challenged the nation’s online gambling monopoly. Harrow-based Ladbrokes launched legal proceedings against the Scandinavian nation in 2004 after it was refused a gaming license. It claimed that Norway’s move beached the Treaty of Rome, European Commission directives and agreements under the European Free Trade Association.

Ladbrokes is preparing to expand into India should sports betting be made legal, potentially opening up a huge untapped marketplace, Director John O’Reilly told Reuters in an interview this week. Although sports betting is officially illegal in India, matches in the Indian Premier League cricket tournament reportedly attract around USD 2 billion in illegal betting.

Bookmaker William Hill attacked the Government's "flip-flopping" gambling policy as it posted an underlying 10pc fall in first-half profits, hit by losing results from Euro 2008 and Royal Ascot. Ralph Topping, chief executive, called for a cut in the tax paid by UK-based bookmakers on internet gambling and warned the Government against any crackdowns on fixed-odds betting terminals.

The Tote, the state-owned bookmaker soon to be privatised, has seen the amount it won from punters rise by over 5%, mainly thanks to controversial touch-screen roulette machines in the group's 540 betting shops. In a surprise move, the bookmaker omitted to say how much gross profit it made from the [[GBP]] 500 jackpot machines, as it has done in the last two years' annual reports to parliament.

The Irish Football Association last night admitted they have been put in a " very difficult position" after betting was suspended on an Irish League match at the weekend. Bookies say they got suspicious after an unusual amount of bets went onto the Glenavon v Armagh City game at Mourneview Park, which ended in a 5-0 win for the home side. Some firms reported bets being put on the match as early as Thursday, which they said was "abnormal" for a Saturday afternoon league match.

Victor Chandler, one of Britain's best-known bookmakers, is understood to be one of a group of bookies arrested during the Arc de Triomphe meeting at Longchamps on Sunday for illegally taking bets. The group, including Chandler's nephew and rails representative Butch Beaton-Brown, were caught in a raid on the corporate facility for British racegoers run by Horse Racing Abroad, who take around 1,300 punters to the Arc in Paris every year.