Guernsey landlord urges move away from States scratch cards

A pub landlord wants to see the scratch card element removed from the Christmas lottery

A Guernsey pub landlord concerned about gambling is urging the States to stop selling scratch cards.

Publican Michael Druce stopped selling the cards four years ago after seeing the "impact it had on his customers".

He reported seeing customers "blow their wages" on the scratch cards sold as part of the Channel Islands Lottery. that is managed by the States.

Deputy Peter Roffey said the States need to look at "moving away from the scratch card element".

It follows a report released on Tuesday which showed a higher percentage of people in Guernsey gambled compared to the the rest of Britain.

'Absolutely terrible'

Mr Druce, who runs a pub in the Vale, said he was "devastated" by witnessing the effects of gambling on his customers.

"As soon as they get a drink down them, they started buying scratch cards and I've seen people actually blow their wages on a Friday night it's absolutely terrible," he said.

"I had one set of parents come to me and beg me not to sell their son scratch cards anymore, because he was so addicted, he was pinching money from the parents.

"If the states weren't involved, they would have been stopped years ago."

The Channel Islands Lottery is run by the States Trading Supervisory Board [STSB] with the funds raised going back into the community.

President of STSB, Deputy Peter Roffey, said he was "not really comfortable with the whole scratch card phenomenon".

He said: "The dilemma is - do we raise almost no money by saying we don't want people to buy tickets, or do you risk gambling addiction?"

Mr Roffey said an alternative to scratch cards "needed to be looked at".