Twenty-eight UK expats and holiday-makers have been fined after police in Portugal raided a bar where a game of bingo was being played. The prizes were biscuits though...
Landlady Marianne Pittaway was fined 700 euros for hosting the game at The Yorkshire Tavern in Albufeira, on Friday night. She also received a four-month suspended prison sentence. She said she was "still in shock" and that the country's regulations were "wrong in a lot of aspects".
The 28 men and women appeared in court in Albufeira to face charges of "exploitation of illegal gambling, illegal gambling and witnessing illegal gambling", according to the police. Even some of the people in the bar who were not playing bingo at all were fined 150 euros and given a three-month suspended sentence for "witnessing illegal gambling".
Organisers of bingo in Portugal have to apply for a government licence.
Ms Pittaway, originally from York, said: "I put on the bingo for some entertainment and a bit of fun. We were only playing for some biscuits and drinks. One minute we were all playing, having a bit of fun and then we were just bundled off in three police vans and taken to the police station."
Portuguese police said the action had been carried out following "information reported by anonymous citizens". The police statement says officers found people were playing "games of luck and chance" outside an authorised place.
Seems quite excessive to me to be honest, that means I can't play poker with my friends at my house for instance?
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