The operators of a gaming centre in Crystal Palace have submitted an application to the council which would enable them to stay open 24 hours a day.
Slot machines: Cllr Claire Bonham and Yusuf Osman are opposing the licence extension at the Admiral slots shop
Admiral, who run the slot machine shop on Westow Hill, has requested to vary their opening hours and the number of staff on the premises. The centre is already open from 9am to 11pm every day.
Claire Bonham, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, is opposing the application, and is calling on residents to add to her objections.
“I am firmly against 24-hour gambling in the Triangle,” Councillor Bonham said.
“There is simply no need for this premises to be open all night. Gambling has the potential to cause serious harm to vulnerable people in our community.
“We do not want 24-hour gambling in our town centre.”
Except, Croydon Council already allows 24-hour gambling in Croydon town centre. The Admiral slot machine shop on North End has a 24-hour-a-day licence from the council.
The LibDems, who are seeking to win all three council seats in Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood ward at May’s local elections, suggest that extended opening hours at the Admiral gaming centre on Westow Hill could risk people behaving in an addictive manner over their gambling.
Certainly, Admiral’s own publicity hints heavily that their gaming machines can be compelling.
“Here at Admiral Slots, whatever game is your kryptonite, we’re positive you will find it inside,” they say in their online publicity.
Elsewhere, they try to lure people in with the prospect of big cash wins: “Stack up a juicy jackpot for the ultimate cash prize… harvest a bumper yield”, and “the chance to win big and everyone becomes a winner!”
Yusuf Osman is one of the Liberal Democrat election candidates in Crystal Palace in May. He said: “Addiction is a social disease with huge consequences for some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
“Opening for 24 hours a day just makes it more likely that people already in financial distress will get themselves into even more debt.
“Extending opening times will also have a negative impact on the people who live above and around this establishment,” Osman said.
The licensing application is on the council’s website here: https://www.croydon.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-02/Admiral%2C-6-Westow-Hill%2C-Upper-Norwood%2C-London%2C-SE19-1RX.pdf
Residents have until March 2 to submit their comments on the application.
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Gambling is for mugs and these people need to be protected from themselves but I wouldn’t expect Croydon Council to do anything that could be considered socially responsible!
Agreed. I will never forgive Bliar for the 2005 Gambling Act, which enabled casino expansion, legalized televised betting adverts, paved the way for modern online gambling, and ruined so many lives in our poorest communities.
Well ok, but the many years of Tory misrule did nothing to reverse this I don’t think, and probably made it worse! And now we have Keir Starmer who seems happy for people to lose their shirts, and he also seems ok with people who lose their trousers!
Gambling is available online 24/7/365. What these places offer punters in real life is the opportunity to launder dirty money, e.g. the proceeds of drug dealing
That may be true, but the poor sods pumping the one-armed bandits may not fit your description
The CP Triangle and especially Westow Hill has had a few years post-covid of getting too many new dirty shops – chicken shops, vape shops and bookies. There’s a well known problem with greedy landlords endlessly raising rents and forcing decent businesses out leaving these dirty, shady ones. We are sick of it.