According to a report on the Express and Star website bingo clubs are certainly making a comeback. Bingo clubs are attracting a new younger breed of bingo customers. Mecca Bingo are certainly lead the way in this new trend and clearly it is paying off as the gambling giant is looking at various new sites to build new bingo clubs in the UK.

A reporter for the media visited the Mecca Bingo club in Oldbury and was clearly impressed with the experience.

A candle flickers in a red glass in front of the youngish blonde, who takes a sip from her drink. “I like to come in here to chat with my friend,” she says, as she leans across the dark wood table.

“This is the modern room, where the younger people come.” The bingo club provides a different image to the old converted cinemas, full of the older generation in a smoke filled room.

The club manager, Andrew Smith, claimed the £1.7 million makeover two years ago which included dividing it into two rooms had proved to be successful.

One side of the glass partition is the informal social lounge, with soft lighting, where customers chat over a drink during the games. On the other side there is the quiet formal bingo area, with the traditional bingo tables in rows.

With the new format the old generation are no longer the majority. Kelly Atkins, 36, said: “I’ve been coming for around two years, my sister introduced me to it,” she says, while casually striking off her numbers with deft hand of a seasoned pro.

“It’s better than going to the pub, at least you’ve got something to do,” says her friend, 41-year-old Barbara Brahimaj.

Andrew added that the average age of the customers is now 51 with one in four members being less than 35.

“You do tend to get the older people in during the day, and the younger crowds at night,” he says.

“On Saturdays we have our late night Bin-glo sessions, which are predominantly for the under-35s.”

The new neon-lit session start at 9:30pm and include a “more outrageous the better” dress code. There are a number of free novelty games after the main session has finished.

Andrews claims that following the smoking ban, bingo clubs have had to adapt: “That affected bingo clubs quite badly, a significant proportion of our members were smokers,” he says.

“It meant they either stopped playing or they went outside during the interval.”

As bingo attracts more younger players, Mecca are certainly looking to capitalise and have confirmed interests in building new clubs in a variety of new locations.

According to the manager the Oldbury club which is the biggest one in the Midlands has just had its best year since the smoking ban came into effect.

“Over 5,000 people will visit this club over the course of a week, and we regularly have nights where over 1,000 people play bingo.