The UK Gambling Commission has confirmed it has been made aware by members of the public that SkyBet have sent promotional emails to self-excluded customers.

In a short statement the UKGC said: We do not expect this of our operators and we will be looking into how this has happened.

In March 2018 Skybet was made to pay a £1m penalty package for failing to protect vulnerable consumers.

The failures related to Skybet customers who had self-excluded from gambling. Self-exclusion is a tool used by consumers who feel they are having trouble controlling their gambling and request that the operator refuse their service.

Weakness in Skybet’s self-exclusion facilities meant that: 736 self-excluded customers were able to open and use duplicate accounts to gamble around 50,000 self-excluded customers received marketing material by email, mobile text or a push notification within a mobile app. 36,748 self-excluded customers did not have their account balance funds returned to them on account closure.

Richard Watson, Programme Director, said: “This was a serious failure affecting thousands of potentially vulnerable customers and the £1m penalty package should serve as a warning to all gambling businesses.

“Protecting consumers from gambling-related harm is a priority for us and where we see operators failing in their responsibility to keep their customers safe we will take tough action.

“Skybet reported the issues to us quickly, cooperated with us and has taken this investigation seriously.”