BOOKMAKER William Hill has said it plans to close about 700 betting shops, which could lead to 4,500 job losses.

The firm said the move followed the government’s decision in April to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals to £2.

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Since then, the company added, it had seen “a significant fall” in gaming machine revenues.

William Hill, which has 2,300 shops and 12,500 employees, said the closures could begin before the end of the year.

“The group will look to apply voluntary redundancy and redeployment measures extensively and will be providing support to all colleagues throughout the process,” its statement said.