'It will be a seven-figure rise' - independent bookmakers face energy price hit

The looming crisis in energy prices across Britain looks set to engulf high street bookmakers as well as many of their customers.

One leading independent told the Racing Post he faces a seven-figure increase in the cost of supplying electricity to his estate of shops.

Another warned the industry could take a "double hit" from rising energy prices and customers facing drastic choices over their own spending, and demanded government intervention to avoid "a tsunami of closures" in the retail sector.