Edinburgh bingo boss Mike Lowe has presented the Scottish Parliament with a petition calling for tax breaks on the industry to help it recover from the effects of the smoking ban.

Lowe, operations manager at Premier Bingo, gathered over 1400 signatures from members asking for VAT on stakes to be cut, bringing the industry in line with the rest of the gaming industry.

Since the ban in March, Premier is reported to have seen profits plummet by over 40 per cent, with its customer base falling by 11 per cent. Lowe said that he had already had to close two clubs in the country and called the slump ’staggering’, adding that it was not sustainable.

A spokesperson for Premier said that it was launching its petition ahead of another one across the UK to catch Chancellor Gordon Brown’s attention.