THE numbers could be up at a south Essex bingo club if it is forced to close because of the smoking ban and Gov-ernment legislation.

Management at Gala Bingo will decide at the end of the month if they can afford to keep the chain's Lakeside club open and save 20 jobs.

They say the future is uncertain for the club because of the effects of the smoking ban and tax bills.

Gala has assured the Echo its bingo halls in Basildon and Pitsea are not under threat, but the Lakeside club is not alone in its suffering.

Spokeswoman for Gala Bingo Sarah Mercer said: "The Lakeside branch is in a consultation process for up to a month. There may be a possible closure. It is for a number of different reasons, which are affecting the bingo industry on the whole."

According to the Bingo Association, clubs across Eng-land have seen revenues fall by 40 per cent since the smoking ban was introduced last July.

It says the pressure of two kinds of tax is leaving many clubs facing closure.

Clinton Cheveralls, manager of Deluxe Bingo Club, Pier Hill, Southend, has worked in the industry for eight years and has seen profits drop.

The number of people visiting the club has fallen sharply since the introduction of the smoking ban.

He said: "It is painful for the industry. Even people going outside for a cigarette during the interval from the main game is affecting our income."

Under current legislation, all gambling businesses pay tax on gross profits of 15 per cent.

But unlike casinos or bookmakers, bingo halls must also pay VAT of 17.5 per cent.

The Bingo Association's chief executive Paul Talboys has been lobbying the Govern-ment to change the tax law since it was introduced in 2003.

He said: "It is grossly unfair. Every other form of gambling pays only one type of tax but bingo, which is one of the softest forms of gambling, pays both.

"I don't think the Govern-ment meant to target bingo, but every time we speak to the Treasury they just say that taxes are constantly under review. Added to the smoking ban, this double taxation brings the industry into critical times.

"We have been through rough times before, like when the National Lottery started, and we have adjusted and survived. Unfortunately, because of double taxation, the clubs won't have time to change before they are forced out of business."

James Duddridge, Tory MP for Rochford and Southend East, said he fully appreciated the problems which the bingo clubs were suffering.

He added: "It is totally hypocritical of the Government to impose this form of double taxation on bingo clubs when it does not do so on much more dangerous forms of gambling.

"When I visited Mecca bingo in Southend, I was impressed with how well it was run and how much of a community meeting place it was."