Britain’s leading bookmakers are ramping up their efforts to prevent a potential tax increase that could significantly impact their businesses.

From April this year, remote gaming duty levied on online casino games increased from 21% to 40%.

John Healey has been urged to rule out a Budget tax raid on gambling amid warnings it will cost thousands of jobs – with women and the young in the firing line.

The Chancellor is considering doubling machine games duty (MGD) the tax levied on slot machines to 40 per cent in the Budget on October 28. Accountancy giant EY estimates that raising machine games duty to 40 per cent would cost up to 16,000 more jobs, put almost 1,500 betting shops and 34 casinos at risk and leave the Treasury £124million worse off.

‘The Chancellor should be under no illusion. Another tax rise would put thousands of those livelihoods on the line,’ said Hurst.‘That would mean fewer jobs, more empty units on struggling high streets and less money for public services. Nobody wins.

‘Eight in ten of the jobs at risk are outside London, in communities that can least afford to lose them. Every closure means another dark window on the high street and another young person, working parent or carer facing an uncertain future.’

She added: ‘At a time when ministers want to get more young people into work and revive Britain’s high streets, taxing these businesses out of existence would be completely self-defeating.’

And calling on Healey to ‘assess the damage already caused by higher taxes’, Hurst said: ‘Our message to the Chancellor is simple: rule out any increase in machine games duty. This Budget must back Britain’s betting shops, not cost our towns thousands more jobs.’