A NUMBER of bookies shops in Barrow have closed marking the end of an era for some of the former Chas Kendall branches.

Ladbrokes Coral has closed two shops in Barrow - in Friars Lane and Bath Street - as the world of betting becomes increasingly online-focused.

Coral bought the Barrow-based Chas Kendall chain of 30 branches in 2011, including three betting shops in southern Scotland, two in Carlisle, 10 in Barrow and outlets at Dalton, Millom, Kendal, Ulverston, Workington, four in Whitehaven, Egremont, Cockermouth, Maryport, Bowness and Windermere.

In 2016 the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) ordered that Coral and Ladbrokes must offload 350 to 400 stores as a condition of their £2.3bn merger.

Following the creation of Ladbrokes Coral the resulting company is now subject to a £4bn takeover bid from GVC which was cleared to go ahead by the CMA in March.

GVC, which owns online betting brands bwin, sportingbet and Foxy Bingo, first announced they were in talks with Coral about a potential merger in December.

Chas Kendall started more than 85 years ago when Charles Kendall set up an illicit gambling den in his shed in Dalton. Betting was legalised in 1961 allowing the company to grow into one of Cumbria's biggest success stories with a turnover of £60m at the time of the takeover from Coral.

Majority shareholder Cath Rigg, the widow of Les Rigg who was the son-in-law of the original Charles Kendall, or Chuck as he was more commonly known, sold the company to Coral in 2011.

"It is such a shame but bookmakers are dying a death these days what with online betting and the slot machines," Mrs Rigg said.

"I bumped into one of the girls who works in one of the shops and she said the good thing is no-one's been made redundant. I don't understand why they've closed the Friars Lane shop because it's in a good location, it's a big shop and the nearest one is Risedale Road so it doesn't make sense to me.

"These slot machines killed it; horse racing isn't what it used to be and I'm glad we got out when we did. Chas Kendall was in the good old days and we sold up at the right time I think."