Bingo operators received mixed blessings from the Budget when the chancellor bowed to the industry’s demand for an end to “double-taxation”, but stifled its joy with a rise in duty on their profits.

The industry, which has contracted in the past 18 months as a result of the smoking ban, regulatory changes and the economic downturn, was alone in the gambling sector in paying a 15 per cent value added tax levy on top of a 15 per cent gross profits tax.