The Gambling Commission in the UK has announced that there Responsible Gambling Fund has awarded more than £500,000 to a pioneering Soho-based problem gambling clinic to help with treatment and counselling over the next 18 months.

The National Problem Gambling Clinic will plans to use the £508,523 grant to provide specialist counselling called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for those with gaming problems of all ages, particularly woman, to beat their habit.

According to the most recent British Gambling Prevalence Survey gambling amongst women increased from 65% in 2007 to 71% in 2010 as online bingo has made its mark in the UK. With online poker and casino show low levels of growth or even declining and online bingo, which is dominated by woman, increasing dramatically over recent years it is no surprise that the number of woman problem gamblers is increasing at concerning levels.

Advice will be offered face-to-face, over the phone and online.

The clinic claims a high success rate, with 75 per cent of patients getting 'significantly better' after working with its multi-disciplinary team.

Experts blame that statistic on the explosion of online gaming. The internet has made gambling more accessible because casinos tend not to be female-friendly while women can now play in the comfort of their home.

Dr Bowden-Jones said some women were playing up to 10 hours a day online. The psychiatrist and addictions expert added: “Women are playing online when their partners are at work then shut down the web when their husbands come home. It's made easy for you as long as you have a credit card.

“There are sites which are targeting women. But the children are placed in front of the TV so the children are not getting the emotional nurturing. By offering childcare, women can get treatment and know their children will be looked after and don't have to tell anyone where they are going.”

Patients will also be offered counselling on the phone and online over the next year. Mothers with young children will even be able to drop their youngsters off with the clinic's childminder whilst they attend counselling sessions.

At the time the clinic was opened in 2008 amid claims of excessive numbers of problem gamblers. The Gambling Commission estimated there are 250,000 problem gamblers in Britain, but Gambler Anonymous thought it was nearer 600,000. Evidence indicates the number of women with problems has doubled in recent years, and they now make up a quarter of addicts.

The chairperson of the RGF, Baroness Julia Neuberger, said this week: NPGC is one of the organisations at the forefront in the battle against problem gambling, especially in targeting groups of people who can't easily get help or who have fallen outside the reach of other services. I am delighted that RGF's grant will support this pioneering clinic's work.

The RGF is a charity that was set up in June 2009 to provide support for research, educational and treatment services across the gambling field.