A shake-up of gambling laws could increase problem gambling, the Government minister in charge of the issue has conceded.
The Gambling Act, passed last year, relaxes some restrictions on the industry, including allowing the first Las Vegas-style supercasino in the UK.
Asked by Channel 4's Dispatches programme whether the legislation could lead to a rise in problem gambling, Richard Caborn said: "Absolutely."
But he insisted that "if there were increases we would be able to arrest that".
Tory spokesman Hugo Swire said it was a "staggering" admission that contradicted assurances given by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.
He told the Observer: "It also completely undermines the supposed aims of their gambling legislation."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said Mr Caborn had simply acknowledged that a risk existed of a rise in problem gambling.
That was why the department was preparing a base line study to use as a comparison to check for any changes, she said.
"If there is a rise there are measures in the Act to deal with that," she said, adding that the risk of a rise would be greater without the new legislation, which also includes a number of extra safeguards.
Ms Jowell has insisted the Act provides "the most protective legislation in the world", and that she would move to shut down casinos if it was shown that they were increasing problem gambling.
