THE William Hill betting shop in Ross-on-Wye has permanently closed following nationwide losses.

In March, William Hill’s parent company Evoke confirmed the planned closure for around 200 betting shops across the UK.

This comes after a hike in the remote gaming duty tax on online gambling from 21per cent to 40 per cent announced in the last budget.

This caused Evoke to suffer massive losses of around £549m and triggered a restructuring.

Unfortunately, the Ross branch in Gloucester Road becoming one of the chain’s branches to close permanently with a sign in the window stating the closure was permanent.

This move follows the closure of the town’s Cancer Research shop due to unsustainable operating costs as well as The Original Factory Shop after the nationwide chain collapsed into administration.