The National Lottery TV commercial showing a little old granny being whisked away from a frightful old locked-up bingo hall to a beautiful sunny beach is causing upset among the Bingo Association.

The advert is for the National Lottery’s Flamin’ Hot Bingo scratch cards which is not an actual bingo game.

The ad been described as ‘deeply offensive’ coming at a time when the land-based bingo industry is facing its worst crisis for many years, seeing a loss of clientèle to on line bingo games and on-line bingo halls which have become increasingly popular.

The UK Bingo Association CEO is not happy commenting that the commercial is “deeply offensive” to an industry that is fighting for its survival in the face of continued revenue losses and bingo hall closures.