Youngsters beat the odds to block plans for new bookies

The Tranent youngsters mounted their campaign against Hill taking over the vacant shop beside the Recharge Youth Facility over fears it would encourage under-age gambling.

Supported by Recharge project manager Alan Bell, Aidan Herschell, 15, Calum Hutchison, 15, and Lewis McGrory, 14, appeared in front of the local licensing board calling for the application to be blocked.

Calum, who door-knocked neighbours to collect signatures, said the group felt very strongly about the issue, especially as there were already two bookmakers established on the town's High Street.

"I've noticed on the streets people who were perhaps a bit older than me who had problems with gambling," he said. "People might have a wee problem now but it could escalate and get a lot worse and they could end up on the street without a job. You need to think of the bigger picture because it could get out of hand. It's all about caring for the community."

Although a William Hill lawyer argued at the licensing board that the petition was not correctly worded and should be thrown out, Mr Bell was able to advocate on behalf of the teenagers and the objection was upheld.

Calum said the experience was a real eye-opener. He said: "I thought it would be quite a small, low-key thing with maybe three people, but there was a panel of about ten with about ten others from the community there. It was a complete shock, I'm just not used to it. When the lawyer came in, he just got rid of the petition. We got a lesson on how it goes - do everything properly or it'll just get trodden down."

Mr Bell said there had been problems with underage gambling in the community a couple of years ago, but things had changed thanks to a lot of hard work by Recharge and police.

"We've been raising awareness of the consequences of where gambling can go, demonstrating the risks and the debt you can get into without getting too preachy," he said.

Although the youngsters were intimidated by the attending the meeting, Mr Bell said they had done very well. "It's the first time I've heard of a group of young people mounting a campaign against bookmakers. It was great to see them being passionate about their local community and feeling empowered to get involved in the democratic process."

The teenagers are now setting their sights on alcohol awareness.

A spokesman for William Hill said the firm would not be appealing the ruling.