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Bingo Calls for Scottish Parliament to Back Rescue

SCOTLAND -- As reported by the (Glasgow) Herald: "Sir Peter Fry, chairman of the Bingo Association, is demanding the support of the Scottish Parliament in his efforts to wring a multimillion-pound tax break from Westminster to prevent the collapse of the £300m Scottish bingo industry.

"The Bingo Association is seeking £10m from the Treasury to provide emr-gency relief for clubs over the next two or three years in the wake of the smoking ban, which has driven down player numbers and revenues at bingo clubs.

"In spite of the benefits of the new smoke-free environments, revenues have fallen at Scottish bingo clubs, which employ 3500 people north of the border, as players come in for shorter periods of time, or have stopped going all together.

"The association's idea is to persuade the Treasury to provide the clubs with tax relief until they are able to widen their offering with new games, such as Keno, in keeping with new gambling legislationwhich will come into effect in September next year..."

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