Bookmaker William Hill has told the UK’s competition watchdog that the proposed merger of rivals Gala Coral Group and Ladbrokes would result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in the UK betting marketplace.

In a detailed submission filed last month, Hills urged the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to reject the proposed merger of Coral and Lads, much as the CMA did the last time these two parties tried to hook up in 1998.

Coral and Lads currently operate around 4k retail betting shops between them, and the CMA’s approval of a merger is expected to require the firms to sell off several hundred shops. Hills suggests that this divestment may address local competition concerns but “may not be capable of re-establishing the third national force which would be lost as a result of this merger.”

Hills acknowledges that the UK betting marketplace has undergone changes since 1998, particularly via the introduction of online gambling, but believes “those changes reinforce the concerns set out in 1998.”