Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has a gambling rate three times over the national average.
Blackburn is introducing a restriction on betting ads in bus shelters and electronic display screens in its jurisdiction, an area with a betting rate of three times the national average.
In 2025, a report by the University of Glasgow revealed that 1.2% of residents under Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council suffer from gambling related harms, with residents losing £10m per year to it.
Following the assessment, the council is joining the Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA), with councillor Damian Talbot outlining his hopes that gambling advertising might become as unthinkable as tobacco advertising.
“Gambling is an addiction that destroys lives. Its impact is felt just as greatly as addictions to illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco. If you think back 30 or 40 years we had tobacco advertising and stopping it has made a difference in the past – so we can make a difference now,” Talbot said.
“For too long, gambling has not been treated in the same way as other addictions because it does not have a direct physical health impact. The establishment of online gambling makes work to combat the addiction all the more important.”
He pointed to the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a “critical time” to raise awareness and promote safer environments for vulnerable residents, adding that a ban on out-of-home (OOH) ads is the “only avenue the council has” in addressing pervasive gambling promotions.
In 2025, Haringey Council in London became the first to join the CEGA, as research revealed the borough lost roughly £8m to gambling harms every year.
The council is pushing for a national ban on gambling ads, but the current statutory ‘Aim to Permit’ duty significantly restricts the council’s ability to stop the launches of additional gambling venues, even when the community is unequivocally opposed to it.
