Another day, another trip to the woodshed for the UK’s gambling operators, whose arses – if not their faces – must be getting pretty red by now.

Speaking on the first day of GambleAware’s fifth annual Harm-Minimization Conference, Tracey Crouch, Minister for Sport, Tourism & Heritage, urged the industry members in attendance to “take a hard look at what you’re producing” in terms of gambling advertising.

Crouch’s department hinted last year that new advertising restrictions were likely to follow the government’s triennial review of the gambling industry, although the review ultimately stopped short of imposing draconian restrictions based on its failure to find a hard link between gambling promos and problem gambling prevalence.

Despite dodging this bullet, Crouch warned that, despite already strict controls over gambling advertising content and broadcast windows, “it’s still very unpopular” with the general public. Crouch warned operators not to “push the boundaries” of what’s considered responsible marketing.