"Wretched machines" is how the leader of Wandsworth Council has referred to one armed bandits.

Wandsworth Times: Wandsworth Council leader Ravi Govindia: "We cannot absorb costs beyond our control"

Councillor Ravi Govindia made the comments as he reiterated a campaign, by the Local Government Association (LGA), to limit the impact of betting shops and slot machines.

He said: "These cross party and non-partisan attempts to limit the spread of these wretched machines and reduce the harmful impact they can have on vulnerable members of our community has my full support."

The high stakes fruit machines allow people to wager - and potentially lose - hundreds of pounds a minute.

Last year Coun Govindia gave his support to a proposed amendment to the Government’s Sustainable Communities Act which would make it more difficult for betting shops to install these machines.

The LGA, which represents town halls across England and Wales, says councils should have powers to reject applications for new betting shops where there are already groups of them.

It also believes that the maximum stake on the machines should be limited to £2 in betting shops and £5 in casinos.

Coun Govindia added: "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.

"These amendments to the Sustainable Communities Act would certainly help limit their spread - but a more effective response would be to change parts of the 2005 legislation so that we could outlaw these high stakes machines altogether."