High street gambling venues, known as adult gaming centres, promise a safe and sociable experience; the chance to have a chat, a coffee and a flutter, under the supervision of trained staff. And they’re proving to be popular, with an increasing number springing up across the country, some of which are open 24 hours a day.
But File on 4 Investigates hears concerns some venues are failing to protect people struggling with gambling addictions - with devastating consequences. AGC's are supposed to ensure staff are trained to spot problem gamblers and intervene. They also operate a self-exclusion scheme which allows problem gamblers to self-exclude from AGC's. Staff should intervene if they spot somebody who has self-exlcuded and should ask them to leave the premises. It's a sensible plan - but does it actually work? Reporter: Alastair Fee
Producer: Ben Robinson
Researcher: Michael Gaughan
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston
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37:43
The Ketamine Trail
Ketamine was designed as an anaesthetic but its use as a recreational drug is growing fast, particularly among young people. It can have life-changing health consequences, yet the use of the drug increased by 85 per cent between 2023 and 2024. Paul Kenyon investigates the ketamine trade and discovers how tonnes of the drug are able to find their way into the UK undetected. Reporter: Paul Kenyon
Producer: Paul Grant
Technical producer: James Bradshaw
Production coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl JohnstonDetails of organisations offering support and information with addiction are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
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37:15
The Carbon Offset Trap
The market where carbon offsets are bought and sold has been projected to grow and grow, as big companies look to prove they can reach net zero. But where achieving reductions in emissions is impossible or expensive, an alternative is to try and arrange for carbon to be taken out of the atmosphere instead. The markets have thrived on linking buyers of carbon offsets - big firms, and even governments - to development projects in poorer countries, where land and labour for tree planting are cheap.But can these projects be safely verified and measured? Are local communities being exploited to try and make the maths add up? And can the industry afford to admit when a project is underperforming the expectations according to which carbon credits have been sold?Investigative reporter Max de Haldevang hears from experts and individuals directly involved in high profile carbon offset projects to find out.Producer: Robert NicholsonA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
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36:50
Introducing Shadow World: The Smuggler
How did a former British soldier become an international people smuggler? Annabel Deas investigates, taking us deep into the UK's hidden criminal landscape. From BBC Radio 4 - Shadow World: The Smuggler. Listen to the full series now on BBC Sounds.
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4:24
Abortion on Trial: The Nicola Packer Story
Nicola Packer went to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for help after she delivered a 26-week-old foetus in her bathroom. But she was reported to the police - and arrested as she lay in bed recovering from major surgery. She was then escorted to a waiting police van and forced to spend the night in a police cell. File on 4 Investigates hears her story and reveals how, behind the scenes of the investigation, police had serious concerns over her controversial arrest. She believed she was only six weeks pregnant when she took abortion medication during lockdown - but she was prosecuted anyway. Her ordeal lasted nearly half a decade and, she says, it has had life-changing consequences for her. The case has also led to renewed calls from MP's and health professionals for a change in the law. Reporter: Kate West
Producer: Anna Meisel
Assistant producers: Jim Booth and Ben Robinson
Techincal producer: Richard Hannaford
:Production coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston
UK