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Gambling addicts will lose more than £500 a session if the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals is set at £30.

Government minister Tracey Crouch wants a £2 limit on the ­bookies’ shop machines – nicknamed the crack cocaine of gambling.

But her plans received a blow from the Gambling Commission – the body that advises the Government – which has recommended she sets the top stake at £30.

New research from ­arcade gaming trade body Bacta shows vulnerable gamblers can only be ­protected from catastrophic losses by setting the maximum at £2 – as the Sunday People has been campaigning for.

(Image: PA)

Bacta says that in 2015-16 there were 136,500 sessions in which players lost more than £500 when average betting was up to £30.

(Image: Reuters)

Bacta boss John White said: “We are deeply concerned by the Gambling Commission advice.”

The £2 stake limit is backed by 93 local authorities, the Royal Society for Public Health, the Church of England, plus two-thirds of MPs.