CLYDEBANK could be set to bar future new betting shops opening in the town as West Dunbartonshire Council gains new powers.

The local authority launched a consultation on regulation of betting and payday loan shops last May and planning chairman Lawrence O'Neill said there would now be a "presumption against" new ones in the area.

West Dunbartonshire has the highest proportion of betting shops, and some of the highest levels of deprivation. Clydebank alone has 13 betting shops.

The betting industry insisted it was heavily regulated and the number of shops had been cut in half since the 1970s.

Currently, bookmakers can open in spaces that used to be businesses such as banks, arguing they offer a financial service.

Now councils are getting new powers to consider each application on its individual merits.

When asked if the shops were feeding off the vulnerable, Cllr O'Neill told the BBC at the weekend: "I don't doubt for a minute that areas like Clydebank who are high in terms of multiple deprivation. . . to say they're feeding on the vulnerable, yeah, that's my opinion, yes.

"Each and every single one will be taken on their merits.

"The likelihood is, given the policy we have in place currently and the legislation in terms of the amendment, the likelihood is that they wouldn't be granted within town centres."

Residents expressed concerns on a citizens' panel last year in advance of the public consultation on new proposals. Councillors on the planning committee voted unanimously to send the question to the community.

Donald Morrison, of the Association of British Bookmakers in Scotland, said shops brought a "vibrancy" to town centres. But he said the estate is almost half compared to the 1970s.

He told the BBC: "Despite the perception that bookies have actually proliferated, the actual numbers of bookmakers in Scotland and across the UK has been in decline in recent years.

"In the last two years or so we've lost 300 shops across the UK, including dozens in Scotland, many of them small operators.

"Nevertheless we're an industry that contributes £110m a year to the economy."