Kilburn Bank Bingo Hall Bid Sparks Brent Objections
A new bid to open a bingo hall in a former Santander branch at 131-135 Kilburn High Road, north-west London, is drawing opposition from a local councillor who says the venue would in practice be a slot machine arcade. The application is for a bingo premises licence from Golden Slots (Southern) Limited, and it is the second gambling bid for the same building this year.
Brent Green Party councillor Suzanne Gallagher is campaigning against it. She and her party argue that although bingo would be offered between 09:00 and midnight, the gaming machine area attached to the licence would stay open around the clock. Objections must reach Brent Council's licensing team before December 2, 2026.
The claims come from the objectors, not the applicant, and the paper noted that the plans do not currently show any intention to convert the premises into an adult gaming centre. The operator has not been quoted in the coverage reviewed.
Earlier this year, an application for the same former bank trading as Macau Casino Slots was withdrawn after hundreds of formal objections and a campaign led by the Brent Green Party. Brent Council's committee report from June 2026 lists Golden Slots (Southern) Ltd as the applicant behind that earlier Macau Casino Slots bid. It shows representations still outstanding from councillors, Members of Parliament, the council's public health team and local residents when the paper was published.
That detail matters because Gallagher's campaign describes the new application as coming from a different operator. The council paperwork instead names the same company on both. Objectors have said earlier representations do not carry over, so anyone who wants to be heard must submit a fresh one under the new application reference.
My London noted that bingo licences have been a common route for gambling operators to get premises through planning and licensing before later asking to widen the offer to an adult gaming centre. The Green Party says the same pattern is in play here, a point the applicant has not been reported as answering.
According to the party's press release, the operator's local area risk assessment forecasts 12 separate high risks, covering child protection, concealed harm, financial hardship, cumulative exposure, overnight fatigue and local crime and disorder. The Greens say the site sits among at least seven other gambling premises within 400 metres.
The same document describes a facial recognition entry system and a registration scheme called Verified Player Access as safeguards. The party says the system has not yet received the data protection impact assessment and lawful-processing approvals it requires, and it objects on privacy and bias grounds. These are the party's characterisations of the applicant's paperwork, and Brent Council has not yet ruled on any of it.
The party says Brent has more than 80 licensed gambling premises that take an estimated £18 million a year from the borough. Brent's Full Council recently passed a gambling harms emergency motion, and the party wants residents to cite the licensing objectives on protecting children and vulnerable people, preventing crime and disorder, and keeping gambling fair and open.
Casino Games Hub
Local authorities currently work under the Gambling Act 2005 duty known as aim to permit, which pushes licensing committees to grant applications that meet the law. The Government said on August 11, 2026 that it intends to revoke the rule as part of a high streets plan, and our report on the high streets strategy confirming the aim to permit scrap covers what it could change.
Until the law changes, each application is decided on its own merits at a licensing hearing. Brent has not yet listed a hearing date for this one in the sources reviewed. If you are comparing legal ways to play from home, our guide to UK online casinos lists licensed options.
