Slots Arcade Bid for Andover High Street: Have Your Say

A national slots operator has applied for a licence to run an adult gaming centre at 38-40 High Street in Andover, and residents have until 8 September to make representations.

Test Valley Borough Council’s licensing page records the application, dated 17 August, from MERKUR Slots UK LTD for a new Adult Gaming Centre premises licence under the Gambling Act 2005. Anything you want the council to consider has to be in writing by 23:59 on Tuesday 8 September 2026.

What an adult gaming centre is

The council’s own guidance is precise about it. An adult gaming centre is premises providing category B3, B4, C and D gaming machines. Nobody under 18 is allowed in. B3 machines are the highest stake category available outside a casino or a bookmaker.

The applicant is MERKUR Slots UK Limited, company number 01038403, registered at Matrix House in Milton Keynes and active since 14 January 1972. The register records two former names: it was Cashino Gaming Limited from 2008 until April 2021, and H.J.M. Caterers Limited before that. Its listed activity is gambling and betting.

It would be the first of its kind in a Test Valley town centre

Test Valley’s Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act, its 2025 licensing policy, lists every gambling premises licensed in the borough. There are seven:

Three of the four Andover premises are already on the High Street, and Jenningsbet at number 34 is two doors from the site in the application. But the only two adult gaming centres in the whole borough are at the Rownhams services on the M27, roughly 20 miles south of Andover. A licence at 38-40 High Street would be the first adult gaming centre in a Test Valley town centre.

The same policy records the gambling premises that have gone. William Hill surrendered 6 The Broadway in August 2014 and 71 High Street in December 2019. The Mecca Bingo Club on Junction Road surrendered its licence in August 2022, and Ladbrokes gave up 29/31A The Hundred in Romsey four months later.

What the council can and cannot take into account

This is the part worth reading before you write anything, because it decides whether a representation counts.

The council must have regard to three licensing objectives set out in section 1 of the Gambling Act: preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, ensuring gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

Under section 153 of the Act, the council must aim to permit the use of the premises for gambling, so far as it thinks that is consistent with the Gambling Commission’s codes and guidance, with the licensing objectives and with its own policy. The policy then states the consequence plainly:

“moral objections to gambling are not a valid reason to reject applications for premises licences”

and that “unmet demand is not a criterion for the Licensing Authority”. Saying the town does not need another one will not carry weight. Evidence about crime, disorder, children or vulnerable people will.

The policy also sets out what the council expects an applicant to offer for an adult gaming centre, which is a useful checklist for anyone writing in:

• proof of age schemes
• CCTV
• supervision of entrances and machine areas
• physical separation of areas, and where the entrance is placed
• notices and signage
• specific opening hours
• self-exclusion schemes
• information leaflets and helpline numbers for organisations such as GamCare

The council’s own local area profile, published in the same policy, lists the specialist services in Andover “where vulnerable adults receive services”. Among them is Inclusion at 51 Bridge Street, a few minutes from the High Street, along with Andover MIND on Westbrook Close and Andover War Memorial Hospital.

What happens next

There is a 28-day representation period. After it closes:

• If nobody makes a representation, the council says it will aim to issue the licence as soon as it can. There is no automatic hearing.
• If representations are made and cannot be resolved, a Licensing Sub-Committee hearing decides the application in public.
• The council can grant a licence with fewer machines, or a different category of machine, than applied for, and can attach its own conditions.
• If it refuses, the applicant can appeal to the magistrates’ court within 21 days.

That last point matters locally. The Licensing Sub-Committee is the same body that heard the Hampshire Air Festival’s premises licence application on 26 August, and its packs are published in full on the council’s committee site.

What it means for you

If you live or work near 38-40 High Street, you are an interested party and can write in.

• Send representations to the Licensing Manager, Legal & Democratic Service, Test Valley Borough Council, Beech Hurst, Weyhill Road, Andover, SP10 3AJ, or email licensing@testvalley.gov.uk.
• The deadline is 23:59 on 8 September 2026.
• Ground your points in the three licensing objectives, not in whether the town wants a slots arcade. That is what the council is allowed to weigh.
• A copy of the application is held at Beech Hurst and can be viewed during office hours. The council asks you to email the licensing team first to arrange it.

The site sits in the stretch of High Street the council is rebuilding around the new theatre. Our parking guide covers where to leave the car for the town centre, and Andover planning news tracks the wider scheme.

Sources

• Test Valley Borough Council, Licensing current consultations, Gambling Act 2005 public notice dated 17 August 2026, for the applicant, the premises, the address for representations and the 23:59, 8 September deadline.
• The applicant’s own statutory notice, published in the Andover Advertiser on 21 August 2026 and carried on the Public Notice Portal, for the application being made under section 159 of the Gambling Act 2005 and for who may make representations.
• Companies House, MERKUR Slots UK Limited (01038403) for the registered office, the incorporation date and the previous names Cashino Gaming Limited and H.J.M. Caterers Limited.
• Test Valley Borough Council, Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act 2005 (2025 policy), published at testvalley.gov.uk: paragraph 1.1 for the licensing objectives, 1.3 and 9.2 for the aim to permit under section 153, 9.3 for moral objections and unmet demand, 12.1 and 12.2 for what the authority expects of an adult gaming centre, and Appendix C for the list of currently and formerly licensed premises and the local area profile.
• Test Valley Borough Council, Premises (Gambling) for the definition of an adult gaming centre by machine category, the 28-day representation period, the absence of tacit consent, the Licensing Sub-Committee route and the 21-day appeal to the magistrates’ court.