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Ladbrokes owner Entain has warned that more betting shops are set to disappear from Britain's high streets as the industry faces a sharp rise in gambling taxes.

The group has already closed around 70 shops over the past year, and chief executive Stella David said further closures are likely as operators struggle with higher costs.

Entain, which also owns Foxy Bingo, expects Labour's gambling tax changes to cost the business a combined £250million across 2026 and 2027, according to The Sun.

Ms David said the company plans to keep shops open wherever they remain viable but confirmed that more closures would come. She did not say how many sites could be affected.

The warning comes after thousands of betting shops have already disappeared from high streets across Britain. More than 3,000 have closed since 2019, while Entain currently operates around 2,300 locations.

Rival operators have also been cutting their estates. William Hill owner Evoke saw the number of its shops fall by more than a fifth in the space of a year, from 1,302 in June 2025 to 1,024 by June 2026.

Entain expects the tax changes to cost it £150million by the end of this year, followed by another £100million in 2027.

That comes on top of the £500million the company paid in UK taxes last year.

Remote gaming duty almost doubled from 21 per cent to 40 per cent in April. From next year, a new 25 per cent online betting duty will also apply to sports betting, excluding horse racing.

Ms David also criticised the Government's approach to illegal gambling operators. She argued that unregulated platforms contribute nothing in tax while licensed companies such as Entain hand hundreds of millions of pounds to the Treasury each year.

The warning came as the FTSE 100 company reported its half-year results.

Despite the mounting tax pressure, Entain's net gaming revenue rose five per cent during the first six months of 2026, helped significantly by the World Cup.

Entain employs 14,000 people across the UK, with the overwhelming majority of its workforce based domestically. The company highlighted that its shops provide flexible, entry-level positions, including opportunities for young people classified as not in education, employment or training.

Ms David expressed strong support for her retail staff, saying: "We're really proud of the fantastic people working in these shops. We've never seen such a strong retail estate, supported by a fantastic leadership team."

She reserved her sharpest criticism, however, for the government's tolerance of black-market gambling operators who face no tax obligations whatsoever. "What doesn't make sense to us is that black-market operators are allowed to pay no tax," she said. "We paid half a billion pounds last year."

Ms David cautioned that as customers migrate towards unregulated platforms, the Treasury would ultimately lose out on significant revenue it could otherwise collect from the regulated sector.

Despite these mounting tax pressures, Entain's trading performance has been robust. Net gaming revenue grew five per cent in the half-year to June 30 compared with the prior year, driven by a seven per cent uplift in online revenue, with the UK and Australia performing particularly well.

Combined revenue from the UK and Ireland advanced eight per cent, with online growth of 13 per cent more than compensating for the drag of shop closures. UK gaming revenue specifically jumped 13 per cent, while sports betting revenue was up 11 per cent.

The expanded World Cup in June proved a powerful catalyst, attracting a surge of first-time customers and boosting uptake of Entain's BetBuilder accumulator product.

Underlying earnings for the six-month period came in at £479million, representing a two per cent decline year on year but still surpassing market expectations.

Ms David struck an optimistic tone about the company's trajectory, stating: "I am pleased with Entain's start to 2026 with strong momentum and volume growth continuing as well as strong player engagement across the group throughout the World Cup tournament."

She added: "This performance reflects our strengthening operations and focused execution which reinforces the resilience of our globally scaled business and its ability to consistently deliver high-quality growth."

Looking ahead, the chief executive expressed confidence that a rigorous approach to expansion and operational efficiency would translate into healthy cash generation over time.

"I am confident our disciplined focus on growth and optimisation will deliver strong future cash-generation, and that Entain remains well positioned to be a long-term industry winner," she said.

The company described its UK momentum as "impressive" even as it absorbs the impact of recently increased remote gambling taxes.