Billionaire businessman and The Apprentice star Lord Sugar is leading calls for tighter regulation of gambling adverts in the UK after savaging ’absolutely pathetic’ existing warnings.

Instead Sugar would like to see a complete ban enforced on all pre-watershed gambling adverts attached to major sporting events – considered to be an entry point for many gambling addicts.

In a direct appeal to the government to combat the ‘addiction’ of gambling Sugar went on to advocate greater market intervention to force global web firms such as Facebook and Google to clampdown on online gambling ads.

Sugar reserved the bulk of his wrath for a gambling ad starring Ray Winstone, which ended with the words ‘gamble responsibly’, a footnote which Sugar branded ‘absolutely pathetic’.

Fleshing out his views the non-affiliated peer told The House of Lords: “It was clearly a useless attempt to pacify an authority who maybe complained. It is pathetically weak and totally inadequate.

Pressure is mounting for tighter regulation of the industry amidst evidence that children are being exposed to record numbers of gambling ads.