The danger of online games which encourage gambling has been highlighted by GambleAware

Young people are taking up gambling with the aim of making money, a charity has warned.

Statistics revealed by the Gambling Commission have revealed that four in 10 youngsters start gambling with the aim of making financial gains.

Online gambling has also been highlighted as a major risk to young people by GambleAware – with apps and games often exposing children to free-to-play gambling style games.

Marc Etches, chief executive of the charity, said: “We are very concerned about how increasingly children are being introduced to gambling via social media, video gaming, and free-to-play casino games online.

“With more than 500,000 11 to 15-year-olds reporting that they gamble we are in great danger of sleepwalking into a future public health storm over gambling-related harm in Britain.”

The report found that 12% of children questioned had spent money on gambling in the past week.

About 11% had played free gambling-style social games online and a similar number had bet with in-game items such as tokens when playing computer or app-based games.

The Gambling Commission’s Tim Miller said: “We require gambling operators to have strong protections in place to prevent children accessing their products.

“However, it is clear that many children’s experiences of gambling are coming from the playground, the games console or social media rather than the bookmaker, the casino or the gambling website.”