People in Enfield have lost more than £16 million to betting machines in the space of a year.

According to research carried out by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, a whopping £16,033,181 was sunk into fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in Enfield during 2014.

Under the Gambling Act 2005, betting shops are allowed to have up to four FOBT’s on their premises, which feature digital, touch screen games of roulette, horse racing, bingo and a range of slot machine games.

Across the capital, Londoners inserted almost £2.5 billion into the machines last year losing a total of £458,548,974.

Peter Craske, of the Association of British Bookmakers, said: “Betting shops across Enfield employ over 500 people so we are a major high street employer in the borough. Our customers only stake an average of £8.42 on gaming machines, and play for an average of 9.02 minutes, so it is unclear how these other figures have been arrived at.

"As an industry we are committed to ensuring all our customers bet in a safe and responsible way, and we work closely with the Government and local councils across the country on the responsible gambling agenda.

“Under the ABB Code for Responsible Gambling, all gaming machine players must now choose whether to set a limit or not on the amount of time they play for, or money they spend. We have also ceased all advertising of gaming machines, and the machines themselves carry prominent responsible gambling messages and information.”

A spokesman for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling said: "The increasing clustering and proliferation of betting shops and FOBTs across London is a major issue that the next Mayor of London will need to tackle.

“The issue is getting worse with an 80 per cent increase in the number of betting shops now located in town centres and major high streets across London boroughs.

“Londoners need a mayor who will stand up to the corporate bookmakers who are exploiting the most vulnerable in society with these highly addictive £100 spin gaming machines.”

Labour MP for Tooting Sadiq Khan has prioritised the issue in his bid to become the Mayor of London.

He said: “We need to make a difference to people’s lives in Enfield by giving councillors the powers to crack down on this blight.”

“The explosion in the use of fixed odds betting terminals over the last decade, and the sheer amount of money being lost in them, is a cause for deep concern.

“We already knew that bookies were targeting the desperate and vulnerable by deliberately setting up shop in deprived communities, but now we know just how much money they’re extracting from the people they prey on.”