Gambling firm William Hill has confirmed plans to shut 700 betting shops, placing 4,500 jobs at risk.
The bookmaker had threatened such a move before a crackdown on controversial fixed-odds betting terminal (FOBT) stakes was implemented on 1 April.
William Hill said in a statement: “Since then the company has seen a significant fall in gaming machine revenues, in line with the guidance given when the government’s decision was announced in May 2018.”
It warned that a “large number of redundancies” was anticipated among the staff affected.
It said: “the group will look to apply voluntary redundancy and redeployment measures extensively and will be providing support to all colleagues throughout the process.