Future Leisure Limited is seeking approval to open a new adult gaming centre in Bedford town centre, with councillors due to decide on the application next week.

A licensing sub-committee in Bedford will meet on 28 May to consider plans for the former Clintons Cards site. Future Leisure already operates more than 25 adult gaming centres across the South East, with a proven track record of social responsibility and positive contribution to all of its local areas.

Application documents describe the location as a “mixed-use town centre environment with high levels of public footfall, where some indicators of vulnerability may be present alongside a concentration of retail, leisure and licensed premises”.

The applicant’s local gambling risk assessment identified the key risks and highlighted how the operator has implemented extensive protection measures to meet the demands of player safety.

According to the application, proposed safeguards include Challenge 25 age verification, CCTV coverage, staff safeguarding training, self-exclusion schemes and customer behaviour monitoring. Plans also include a “neutral shopfront design” with “no gambling imagery visible from the street”.

Future commands one of the best track records in the country for player protections and is looking to add to the massive regeneration project underway in the Bedford area which centres on the new Universal theme park which will be the largest in Europe.