ONLINE GAMBLING has taken a new twist with the increasing popularity of Vegas-style 'slot machines'. Some individual high-jackpot virtual one-armed-bandits are raking in up to £10,000 a day.

And the chance of hitting a jackpot, one of which currently stands at £674,260, has got the UK's great unwashed spending its dole money like never before leading to a tenfold increase in players over the last six months.

Research has shown that 62 per cent of online bandit botherers are female and the vast majority are aged between 35 and 50.

There goes next week's fish finger budget then. µ