Gala Bingo has again come under criticism after managers instructed the caller to continue with the bingo games as one of the customers was lying in the hall dying.

Bingo players were reportedly shocked as the game was continued even though the elderly lady collapsed and they saw her “turn blue”. Gala staff told customers it was the company policy to continue playing the game. Paramedics worked to save the unconscious woman and she was pronounced dead when she arrived at the hospital.

Bingo player, Sharon Dunn, said she was disgusted at the decision not to stop the game at the bingo club in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire. The incident occurred on Thursday evening.

Sharon told the local media: “It was clear the woman was in a bad way,”

“She was struggling to breathe and started to turn blue and people were quite distressed.

“But a woman came on stage and announced it was company procedure always to carry on with the bingo. People couldn’t believe it.”

Sharon claimed that the First Aider treated the lady who was “about 60”, until paramedics turned up.

She added: “They began all the procedures and even had what appeared to be a defibrillator machine out.

“The woman was eventually carried out with a blanket over her and we feared the worst.

“All the time, the caller was continuing to call out the numbers.

“We couldn’t believe it. A bit of decency and compassion would have been nice.”

The bingo players claimed that the bingo players were shocked at the practice and got up and walked out of the club after the woman collapsed.

On Friday the session continued as normal and one regular bingo player commented:: “I haven’t heard about this death but I’m not surprised that’s what happened.

“There have been a few incidents where people have collapsed and the games always continue.

“It’s a tricky one. Some folk think they should stop but I guarantee they’d get complaints if they did.”

Another player added: “Some of these games are linked to other halls so you can’t just stop.

“There are a lot of older people playing and it’s quite a charged atmosphere so medical problems aren’t that unusual. It’s accepted that the show must go on.”

A Gala Bingo spokeperson commented that the death was a tragedy and their thoughts were with the woman’s family.: “Our initial approach in such instances is to create as calm an environment as possible, to reduce the stress for the customer in question, their friends and family and our qualified first aider until the emergency services arrive.

“In this case, it was felt the best way of dealing with this particular incident was to continue with the bingo.

“Our staff are trained to deal with situations like this and carried out all the correct procedures until the paramedics arrived.”