CONTROVERSIAL fixed-odds betting machines, which have boosted the profits of high-street bookmakers in recent years, will get the backing of government in a new report to be released this week.

It will be a huge fillip to the big bookmakers that have been cashing in on the machines. But it comes at a time when the government is under pressure to address the issue of problem gambling and is certain to re-ignite the row over its plans to liberalise gambling laws, including allowing new Las Vegas-style resort casinos.

The report into fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), compiled by the Association of British Bookmakers and jointly commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, has been leaked to The Sunday Times.

In the past few years, the big five bookies — Ladbrokes, William Hill, Coral, Stanley Racing and the state-owned Tote — have installed 15,000 machines in their shops and it is estimated that about £290m a week is being wagered through them by the British public.

William Hill gets about 30% of its earnings from the machines and that has helped the biggest high-street chain to become one of the fastest risers in the FTSE 100.

The report’s main purpose was to show whether FOBTs led to more cases of problem gambling. It concluded: “There is no evidence in this study which suggests that FOBTs are closely associated with problem gambling.”

The report, which will be published this week, also claims the code of practice established by the industry is working. Tessa Jowell, culture secretary, is likely to say that FBOTs remain “on probation”. She will also announce another independent peer review.

Separately, Hilton (owner of Ladbrokes) is to lobby the government to scale down from eight to four the number of big gaming venues it intends to approve. The government plans to allow each venue to have 1,250 category-A machines but, if there are only four venues, each could be allowed to have 2,500.

Hilton’s Roger Devlin said: “In America, people have to make a conscious decision to fly to Las Vegas or hop on a bus to Atlantic City. In Britain, people also have to make an effort and say, ‘I’m going to a resort’.”

Devlin has been working on plans to build gaming venues at Birmingham’s NEC, Brighton and Blackpool. He believes big venues would generate sufficient profits to justify the huge investment.

But he believes they should be located in deprived areas. He said: “If you had a big casino in Blackpool, it really would be transformational to the town.”

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