CRIME in high streets is linked to clusters of betting shops according to evidence presented by the council to a national inquiry.

In evidence given to the Government’s Inquiry into Gambling, Haringey councillors argued that crime is a problem around betting shops in Haringey, with 262 crimes a year being linked to them.

The council’s submission backs Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman’s comments on Tuesday, when she published a report that suggested Tottenham has 39 betting shops but no bookshop.

Local government leaders believe a new gambling law in 2005 took away powers that they had to restrict the proliferation of the shops along high streets.

Councillor Nilgun Canver, cabinet member for environment, said: “The Gambling Act is failing to provide us with sufficient licensing powers to deal with the impact of gambling premises and the problems they bring, such as increased crime and disorder, and their impact on the viability of our high streets and the well being of vulnerable communities.

“The removal of the ‘demand test’ that previously allowed magistrates to regulate clustering — and the introduction of the requirement that we must ‘aim to permit’ them — means that there is almost no restriction on how many gambling premises operate in an area.”

The council also wants more action to protect children from gambling and for the regulator, the Gambling Commission, to be a more active body.