A CAMPAIGN is being launched to tighten security and protect the Capital's bookmakers from violent attacks.
Citing examples of attacks across Edinburgh, the bookies' union is to lobby MSPs for tighter security measures.
Many organisations refuse to install imposing CCTV cameras and bandit screens because they think it will put customers off. In some ex
amples given by the union, some bookmakers didn't even have safes, and in one case money was stored in a cigar tin.
Following a spate of incidents in the city, and across the country, union Community is teaming up with politicians to take their case to Holyrood.
The union spokesman said female members of staff – who make up more than two-thirds of bookies' employees in the city – were particularly vulnerable when it came to attacks and robberies.
One example was the Scotbet.com bookmaker on Queensferry Street.
The spokesman said: "There was a case of a betting shop in the west end of Edinburgh where, incredibly, there wasn't even a safe on the premises. All the money was stored in cigar tins.
"One day a man came in and attacked a female member of staff by punching her repeatedly in the face, and then gathered up the money and ran out of the shop.
"There have been numerous cases of female staff being attacked because there is a complete lack of basic safety features."
Nationally, figures show that incidents of robbery and assault have increased three-fold over the past three years, ranging from serious threats to attacks with swords and machetes.
Official figures collected from Scottish police forces revealed that there were 45 robberies on betting shops last year as organised criminal gangs exploited security weaknesses.
A separate survey revealed 15 per cent of Scotland's betting shop staff had been assaulted last year. Incidents listed include stabbings, threats with firearms and firebomb attacks on bookmakers across Scotland.
An investigation by Community found that from 2006-2008 there were 4760 incidents of verbal and physical abuse directed at betting shop staff – including 587 cases of serious threats made against staff or their families – while there were 58 cases of furniture being thrown, and 52 incidents of a weapon being used.
The full article contains 370 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
