The UK government’s new National Suicide Prevention Strategy has gone on record for the first time stating that gambling is a suicide risk.

The Strategy said: “We do know that gambling can be a dominant factor without which the suicide may not have occurred. Action therefore needs to be taken to address the harms of gambling, including suicide, and reach people at risk.”

The charity Gambling with Lives has led a long campaign to have gambling’s risks officially acknowledged.

The gambling industry, however, has maintained that suicide is a complex issue.