The boss of Britain’s largest gambling firm has said that gambling advertising is out of control as he called for a ban on gambling ads around live football matches before 9pm.

Kenny Alexander, who is the chief executive of GVC Holdings, a company that owns bookmakers Ladbrokes Coral, said he’d decided to support the ban after speaking directly with gambling addicts in rehab centres.

He also said he hoped other bookies, such as Paddy Power and William Hill would agree to a voluntary ban on ads before 9pm, but failing that, the Government should impose a ban.

There is growing momentum for stricter controls on gambling ads. Last month, Labour called for a ban on ads around sporting events and the Church of England also backs a ban.

CARE also backs stricter controls on gambling advertising to prevent gambling being normalised especially for young people.

When the football season started, the charity raised concerns about the fact 60 per cent of teams in England’s top two divisions have gambling firm logos on their shirts.

The group’s communications manager, James Mildred said: “There is growing momentum for stricter controls over gambling ads.

“We’re on the brink of a major crisis in terms of gambling and public health and the sheer abundance of gambling ads around sporting events only makes a bad situation worse.”