The opening of the country's first NHS clinic for gamblers in London has prompted calls from doctors in Scotland for a similar service north of the border.

The opening of the country's first NHS clinic for gamblers in London has prompted calls from doctors in Scotland for a similar service north of the border.

The National Problem Gambling Clinic in Soho will be on trial for a year but it has already attracted interest from all over the UK.

Staff at the clinic include psychiatrists, psychologists, family therapists and debt management experts from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Last night the British Medical Association in Scotland said it supports opening such a centre in Scotland, possibly Glasgow, where gambling has been known to exacerbate existing social pressures.

The BMA recommends that funding is sought from government "for public health education about the risks of gambling".

A spokesman for the BMA, the doctors' representative organisation, said a clinic is "something we would welcome in Scotland" as part of a package of treatment and prevention. He added: "It makes sense to focus on public health and awareness-raising initiatives in order to prevent the development of problems in the first place."

Dr Gerda Reith, of Glasgow University's department of sociology, said that raising awareness was "particularly important in Scotland".

She said: "Many individuals are simply not aware of the risks gambling can pose."

The scale is highlighted in a recent report, which showed there were 280,000 gamblers in the UK, and 25,000 in Scotland. This is set against a reported 270,000 Britons with illegal drug problems.