Gambling, machines and lottery permits

If you run a private members' club (like a working men’s club, rugby club, or British Legion), with a club premises certificate, you will need to apply for a club gaming or a club machine permit if you wish to have gaming machines or activity on your premises.

Club gaming permit (CGP) 

A club gaming permit is available to members’ clubs (like a working men’s club, rugby club, or British Legion), but not commercial clubs. It allows the club to offer:

• equal chance gaming such as poker and bingo.
• games of chance (pontoon and chemin de fer only).
• up to three gaming machines in total of categories B3A, B4, C or D, but by agreement, only one machine can be of category B3A. 

Restrictions on the gaming are:

• no limits on stakes and prizes, except bingo where there is a stakes and prizes limit of £2,000 in any seven day period.
• limit on participation fees per person per day - £20 for bridge and or whist (if played on a day on which no facilities of any kinds of gaming (other than bridge or whist) are provided by the relevant club on that day), £3 for other gaming (including poker) in any other circumstances .

To apply for or vary an existing club gaming permit, please fill in our application form:

Club gaming permit/club machine permit application form

Please send your completed application form, together with a £200 payment (please make cheques payable to Lichfield District Council) to:

Club machine permit (CMP) 

A club machine permit is available to members’ clubs (like a working men’s club, rugby club, or British Legion) and commercial clubs. It allows the club to offer:

• equal chance gaming such as poker and bingo.
• up to three gaming machines in total of categories B3A, B4, C or D, but by agreement, only one machine can be of category B3A (B3A not permitted for commercial clubs). 

Restrictions on the gaming are:

• limit on stakes and prizes for bingo is £2,000 in any seven day period.
• limit on stakes for poker - £10 per person per game, within a premises limit of £250 in stakes per day and £1,000 per week.
• limit on prizes for poker - £250 per game.
• limit on participation fees per person per day - £18 for bridge/whist (if played on a day on which no facilities of any kind of gaming (other than bridge or whist) are provided by the relevant club on that day), £1 for other gaming (including poker), £3 where it’s a commercial club. 

To apply for or vary an existing club machine permit, please fill in our application form:

Club gaming permit/club machine permit application form

Please send your completed application form, together with a £200 payment (please make cheques payable to Lichfield District Council) to:

Renewing your permit

Duration of club gaming and machine permits

A club gaming permit or club machine permit lasts for ten years unless it ceases to have effect because it is surrendered.

An application for the renewal of a CGP or CMP must be made between no sooner than 12 weeks (three months) before it expires and no later than six weeks before it expires. So for example, if a permit was issued on 1 October 2009, a renewal application must be submitted between 1 July 2019 and 20 August 2019.

To renew an existing club gaming permit or club machine permit, please fill in our application form:

Club gaming permit/club machine permit application form

Please send your completed application form, together with a £200 payment (please make cheques payable to Lichfield District Council) to:

Download our table of machine categories.