The Mecca Bingo club in Hartlepool is celebrating after record breaking prize winnings of £2 million in the last six months alone. The prize money which excludes in house prize money and national winnings makes the club the third most successful in the North-East, North Yorkshire and Humber area.

Mecca Bingo has given out £17.1 million in the region and £162 million throughout the country. Including national games the Hartlepool club has paid out £2,098,210. Within the same areas the only clubs to top this amount are Hull and Stockton. The figures represent the six months from January until June.

The general manager at the Mecca Hartlepool, Gavin Lee, commented: “To pay out £2m worth of prize money to our customers in just six months is fantastic.

“Bingo is more fun than ever. The chances of winning a sum of money that will give you a boost are huge.

“I think people new to the game always find it surprising how frequent the wins can actually be, whether in clubs or online.

“There’s always a fantastic atmosphere in the club when someone wins and other customers are genuinely happy for the winner.

“There’s a real sense of excitement and camaraderie.”

Bingo players at Mecca Bingo can choose to play the traditional game of bingo with paper tickets or use the new Mecca Max electronic tablet.

The operations manager at the club, Mark Dadson, commented: “Gone are the days of ‘legs 11’ where customers were playing for a packet of custard creams, Mecca is an exciting and dynamic place to come that’s relevant for today.

“With the Mecca Max, we are adding new technology to enhance customer experience.

“We are catering for everyone, we are keeping to our roots with the paper game yet we know people want to get to grips with technology.”