Haringey council enforcement officers have seized illegal gaming machines in raids across the London borough.
As part of Operation Elgar, the council worked with the Metropolitan Police and the Gambling Commission to confiscate a total of 49 illegal gaming machines from properties in Green Lanes, West Green Road and Lordship Lane. These premises were targeted after concerns were raised by the Commission about illegal ‘black horse’ gaming machines being operated in social and snooker clubs.
It is the second multi-agency operation carried out in the borough, taking to the total number of seized machines to 93. "The council is determined to ensure that only premises with licences are allowed to have gaming machines as they can attract anti-social behaviour problems for local communities,” said Councillor Nilgun Canver, cabinet member for the environment.
"It is also important that we're able to monitor their effect on the community, which is why they need to be licensed. I’m glad to see these latest raids have successfully removed so many illegal machines."
The Gambling Commission’s regional compliance manager for the south-east, Clive Noblett, said that this latest round of seizures had yielded further information into the source of the alleged illegal supply of gaming machines.
Enquiries are continuing, he said.
