The UK's largest betting operators are set to remove all TV and radio gaming advertising for games and products during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Betting and Gaming Council, which represents betting shops, online betting and gaming, bingo and casinos made the announcement today.

Existing adverts will be replaced by safer gambling messages, or donated to charities or removed for at least six weeks.

The change will take place no later than 7 May and remain in force for at least six weeks and until at least 5 June.

The moves comes after the Government wrote to betting companies to ask what they were doing to tackle gambling related harms during the cornavirus lockdown.

Betting firms had already said it would increase safer gambling messages, promote deposit limits and intervene earlier if customers increased what they spent.

Campaigners however said these measures were 'weak' and called for more.

In a letter to the Government, 25 MPs, peers and gambling addiction experts said:

There is little doubt those with a gambling addiction are more at risk during the lockdown. Up until this point, there has been little evidence of the betting industry taking this seriously.

While today's announcement is welcome, let's hope it is not too little, too late.

It is clear that deregulation of the betting industry must not be allowed to continue. In the interests of protecting people from gambling related harms, the Government must take the initiative to bring the betting industry into line.

Whatever the 'new normal' for the UK looks like, it must include ongoing protections for those most susceptible to problem gambling.