Under-18s will be banned from playing National Lottery games and scratchcards
UNDER-18s will be banned from playing National Lottery games in a rules change, The Sun understands.
Boris Johnson will unveil laws to stop 16 and 17-year-olds from gambling on the draw and scratch cards “within months”.
The PM is acting amid growing fears the lottery is getting vulnerable kids hooked on gambling.
A Whitehall source told The Sun: “The PM believes it is a necessary step to protect children.”
Gambling is illegal for under-18s, but anyone 16 or over can play National Lottery games.
Launched in 1994, the weekly lottery draw was intended to be a fun way to raise cash for charities.
But Camelot’s National Lottery gambling empire now includes products which imitate children’s board games.
Last year, Camelot launched a scratch card based on Love Island, popular with youngsters.
About 55,000 kids aged 11 to 16 are hooked on gambling, figures released last October revealed.
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Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield has previously called for the loophole to be closed.
EuroMillions winner Jane Park has also raised doubts over whether she should have been allowed to scoop her £1million when she was just 17.
