New research shows Wandsworth residents lost just shy of £13m to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT) last year.

This huge rise in the use of FOBTs is a London-wide issue, with large amounts of money being lost on the likes of electronic roulette games and simulated horse races every day.

The figures provided by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling showed people using the gambling machines in local bookmakers lost £12,826,545 in 2014.

The information was presented to Tooting's Labour MP and one of the leading candidates to be London’s next Mayor, Sadiq Khan, who said: "The explosion in the use of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals over the last decade and the sheer amount of money being lost in them is a cause for deep concern.

"We already knew that bookies were targeting the desperate and vulnerable by deliberately setting-up shop in deprived communities, but now we know just how much money they’re extracting from the people they prey on."

Despite big money casino gambling being banned from British high streets, bookmakers found a loophole which argued that due to external servers they were not actually gambling on the premises, allowing gamblers to play with stakes up to £100.

As a result London’s residents have lost about £3bn to FOBTs since 2008.

The 2005 Gambling Act removed licensing controls from local governments, leaving councils almost powerless in regards to FOBTs and their effects on local residents, however Mr Khan is still confident that something can be done.

He said: "It is clear that tougher regulation is needed to combat these machines, and the misery they are inflicting on our communities. The truth is Labour ministers got this wrong in the past and we need to fix it before another generation become addicted to using these machines which ruin so many people’s lives."

A spokesman for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling said Mr Khan could make a difference as Mayor of London, and added: "The increasing clustering and proliferation of betting shops and FOBTs across London is a major issue that the next Mayor of London will need to tackle. Sadiq Khan recognises this is a major problem for communities across London."

Earlier this year, leader of Wandsworth Council Ravi Govindia said: "If we are tackle this issue then the Government really needs to look at amending parts of the 2005 Gambling Act. It was this legislation that opened the floodgates that allowed the spread of betting and gambling that is now so commonplace.

"It was this change in the law that made it much harder for local authorities to oppose the spread of betting shops and FOBTs and which also allowed gambling companies to begin advertising so widely on TV screens.

"Here in Wandsworth betting shop numbers have remained reasonably static for the past seven years or so. In 2008 there were 55 betting shops that were open across the borough and at the moment there are 52. But it is the spread of these fixed odd terminals that is causing the most concern."