More than 40,000 calls were made to the National Gambling Helpline during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, it has emerged.

GamCare, which operates the service, reports a big increase in gambling between March 2020, when the pandemic began, and March this year.

According to the group, two thirds of the gamblers contacting the helpline had debt issues, and three quarters had financial difficulties due to gambling.

A separate study in May suggested that online gambling soared in 2020, with regular gamblers more than six times more likely to gamble online.

The University of Bristol study stated that "although many forms of gambling were restricted, a minority of regular gamblers significantly increased their gambling and betting online" with vulnerable groups "worse affected".

Last year a House of Lords report found that there were a third of a million problem gamblers in the UK, with young people being most at risk.

The report also found that 60% of gambling companies' profits come from the 5% of customers who are already problem gamblers, or who are at risk of becoming so.

CARE has said:

“While for some, gambling is just harmless fun, for a significant minority it causes genuine devastation. Addiction to betting can lead to job loss, relationship breakdown, family breakdown and suicide.

“Our vision is to see laws passed that will help protect vulnerable problem gamblers from further harm. We also want to see existing laws strengthened so the gambling industry is brought properly to account.”