NHS is to launch the UK's first gambling clinic for CHILDREN

Betting firms should fund treatment for Britain’s 55,000 child gambling addicts, the head of the NHS said last night.

The first ever specialist clinic for children will open amid warnings that gambling is ‘destroying the mental health of young people’.

Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, said it was unfair taxpayers were being forced to ‘pick up the huge tab’ for the expansion of services to help addicts.

He called for a mandatory levy on betting firms and slammed them for ‘pumping out’ online adverts.

The NHS will open 14 new addiction clinics – including one for children, which will offer specialist psychological help and open this summer.

There will be services in Leeds, Manchester and Sunderland, as well as the clinic in London which will provide specialist help for those aged 13 to 25.

The move follows a campaign by the Daily Mail demanding that the gambling industry pays for its devastating toll on society – which currently costs taxpayers up to £1.2billion every year.

Betting firms lavish £1.5billion a year on marketing, but give just £10million to help treat addiction. 

However bookmakers William Hill, Ladbrokes Coral, Paddy Power Betfair, Skybet and Bet365 last week pledged to increase their contribution to £60million within five years.

Speaking about the clinics, Mr Stevens said: ‘This action shows how seriously the NHS takes gambling addiction, even in young people, but we need to be clear – tackling mental ill health caused by addiction is everyone’s responsibility, especially firms that directly contribute to the problem.

‘This is an industry that splashes £1.5billion on marketing and advertising campaigns, much of it now pumped out online and through social media, but it has been spending just a fraction of that helping customers deal with the direct consequences of addiction.

‘The sums just don’t add up and that is why as well as voluntary action it makes sense to hold open the possibility of a mandatory levy if experience shows that’s what’s needed.

‘A levy... can substantially increase the money available, so that taxpayers and the NHS are not left to pick up a huge tab.’

A report by the Gambling Commission revealed that 450,000 11 to 16-year-olds bet regularly. The number of addicts in that age group has quadrupled in two years to 55,000.

The legal age for most types of gambling, including casinos and sports betting, is 18. However thousands of children get around age restrictions by using their parents’ details.

Last week, four gambling adverts were banned after they appeared in a smartphone app used

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