Half of Britons now like to gamble but think it's 'dangerous for family life'

Almost half of people in Britain gamble, a study has revealed.

In the past four weeks, 48 per cent of people have gambled, according to the survey by the Gambling Commission.

This marks a 3% increase on 2015, although the figure drops to 33 per cent when it excludes those who only play the National Lottery.

MORE: Heartbreaking moment a baby elephant refused to leave her mum who was killed for her tusks
MORE: What are the new mobile phone driving penalties? Tough rules coming in on 1 March explained

However, more than two thirds of those surveyed said they believe gambling is dangerous for family life.

Three per cent more men gamble now than they did in 2015 – up from 50% to 53% – and the increase is the same among women; up from 41% to 44%.

The use of mobile phones or tablets to gamble has increased by 10% since 2015 to 43%, and 68% of 18 to 24-year-olds have been prompted to gamble by adverts and posts on social media.

Gambling on gaming machines in bookmakers has remained stable at 1.5%.

Of those who have gambled in the past 12 months, 0.7% were identified as problem gamblers, up from 0.5% in 2015, and 5.5% identified as at-risk gamblers.

The poll also found 67% of respondents think people should have the right to gamble whenever they want, but 69% believe gambling is dangerous for family life and 78% feel there are now too many opportunities to gamble.

Gambling Commission programme director James Green said: “This report paints an important picture of how consumers in Britain choose to gamble – identifying emerging trends and potential risks to the public.

“We are also now able to provide a more detailed snapshot of online behaviours, which featured for the first time last year.