Gambling: 'A banking app helped me beat my addiction'

"I'd be setting my alarm to wake up at 4am to do a first bet," says Danny Cheetham, who began placing bets in his early 20s.

"I'd plan my route to work so I could call in to a bookies which opened early for commuters."

Danny, who is now 29, found himself betting in bookies, on slot machines and online. He gambled a lot on football, which he doesn't even like.

He began relying on overtime from work and on payday loans. In the course of eight years, Danny, who's from Stockport, estimates he lost more than £50,000.

He sunk into depression and moved in with his dad as he could not afford to pay rent.

It was the death of his mum Christine in 2015 that he says was the turning point for him - but he was not able to kick his habit until he signed up to a gambling block with his bank, Monzo. The so-called challenger bank is a mobile-only version of a traditional bank.

Once the block is activated by the customer, it can spot any transaction that person might try to make with bookmakers - either online or in a shop - by using merchant category codes. It instantly stops the transaction from happening, before any money has left that customer's account.

If a customer is tempted to place a bet in the heat of the moment, there is a 48-hour cooling-off period before the block is switched off. There is also a daily limit on cash withdrawals.

[bbc sources]

Gambling addiction: The facts

• 430,000 problem gamblers in Britain
• Two million people "at risk"
• Harm can include higher levels of physical and mental illness, debt problems, relationship breakdown and, in some cases, criminality