Raj Dattani at Fish and Cook

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PARENTS and residents have been left outraged by a bid to open a 24/7 slots “casino” near a primary school in the latest row over the spread of gambling.

Luxury Leisure, which operates 270 venues across the country, wants to move one of its Admiral outlets into the unit used for 48 years by a stationery shop in Blackstock Road, ­Finsbury Park. Fish and Cook is closing down, with its owner saying the changing high street means it is too hard to run.

The spectre of a betting business moving in, however, has led to warnings of increased ­nuisance behaviour. Charities have repeatedly said that desperate gamblers are getting into debt as they chase money during the cost-of-living crisis.

Father-of-two Thomas Karshan, whose child attends Ambler primary school close to where the slots arcade would open, told the Tribune: “The police are very concerned about this block. It is pretty spicy around here, but the key thing is it’s got a lot of wonderful character as well. This would take the character away from the neighbourhood and turn it into a really ­sordid place.”

Mr Karshan also criticised the “tactics” of Luxury Leisure, whose first planning application was refused in July last year.

“They know exactly what they’re doing,” he said.

“They have a rather cynical strategy of making an application knowing it will fail, so that they can come back and say, ‘these are our responses to the objections’, and then there’s not very much room for the council to stop it.”

The stationery shop in Blackstock Road

There are already three bookmakers within 500 metres of the proposed venue, the nearest being Paddy Power in Seven Sisters Road. Betting shops over the last 20 years have included more gambling consoles which punters can sit at for long periods. None of the existing gambling premises, however, operate on a 24/7 basis.

Another Ambler parent, Shady Hamadi, who lives near the Finsbury Park Mosque, said that if the new venue was given the go-ahead it would be the “cherry on top of the cake” when it comes to social issues in Finsbury Park.

He said: “We pay a fortune for rent here, and every day I step out my door I see people digging in the garbage and smoking crack outside the main entrance.”

And Sylvia Whitehouse, 80, who lives Romilly Road, said she felt that the arrival of a slots casino would be the “last straw” for the area she has lived in for more than 40 years.

She said: “You feel sometimes that Finsbury Park has been abandoned.

“A casino is just about the last thing we need. It’s just totally inappropriate and really a retrograde step.

“These companies think they’ll just move in and do a bit more to destroy our little neighbourhoods.

“It just couldn’t be more socially damaging to have that here.”

Fish and Cook’s owner, Raj Dattani, who also owns 3 Blackstock Road, said he has enjoyed meeting customers and many different types of people in the area over his 48 years running the shop.

But of the unit’s future, he said: “What else can it be? [Stationery] is not a viable business. It can only be food or a coffee shop or something, and there are too many coffee shops already.”

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Luxury Leisure is a “blue chip” company, he added, meaning it is well established and financially sound, making it the kind of business that can absorb rising rents and business rates.

The shop is just over the borough border, meaning it is Hackney Council which will have the final say on the proposals.

Paddy Power on Seven Sisters Road

Islington’s communities chief, Councillor Dr John Woolf, said: “It is ultimately Hackney’s decision, but we’re very concerned about it and we’ll be looking to make an objection.

“It’s close to Ambler primary school, [and] there are issues regarding anti-social behaviour in the area.

“It is a completely inappropriate location and I do not support it.”

Islington has taken a tough approach on gambling and Labour councillors have previously asked their counterparts at Westminster to hand local authorities the power to restrict the number of places to gamble in an area.

Cllr Woolf has talked about the dangers of gambling and how he saw it as a “public health” issue.
Council planners moved to stop a bookmaker opening in Caledonian Road but each battle has come with warnings that local powers may not be enough to halt the spread.

A Hackney Council spokesperson said: “The application is currently live, and planning officers will assess the application against relevant planning policies, guidelines and other material planning considerations.”

Luxury Leisure did not respond to the Tribune’s request for comment before our print deadline, but documents submitted as part of their planning application say: “Luxury Leisure is committed to the safety of our staff and customers and to the ongoing relationships with the local area and our neighbours.

“Our external advertising is not directed at people under the age of 18 years through the selection of media, style of presentation, content or context in which they appear.”

It added: “Luxury Leisure AGCs [adult gaming centres] do not attract large crowds of people, our patrons are usually individuals or couples.”