YOU can’t walk down a high street in East Lancs without coming across a bookies or turn on the TV and see an advert for the latest football odds.

But the streets are not always paved with gold as gambling addicts know to their cost.

And even footballers are resorting to payday loans to fund their gambling habits, according to charity Sporting Chance.

The charity, which helps sportsmen and women deal with addiction, has dealt with one footballer who has lost an estimated £7million in three years of gambling.

Last year punters staked more than £270million on fixed-odds betting machines in East Lancashire, which have been labelled ‘the crack cocaine of gambling.’ These machines swallow cash allowing punters to gamble up to £100 every 20 seconds.

East Lancashire MPs have campaigned to clamp down on these betting terminals, which more and more people are getting hooked on.

And Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to take a ‘proper look’ at the machines following Ireland’s recent decision to ban them.

The results of an 18-month study into gambling machines by the Responsible Gambling Trust is also under way.

This news should be welcomed as the culture of gambling is getting out of hand. There is no harm in having a little flutter now and again but everything in moderation.