OVER 6,000 migrants have used government-issued cards loaded with £50 a week at betting shops and casinos.
Pre-paid cards given out to pay for basics including food and clothing were used in venues, data reveals.
In the last year, up to 6,637 asylum seekers have used taxpayer handouts to fund their gambling habits.
At the highest incidence, 227 attempted to use or successfully used the cards to gamble in a week last November.
While attempts to gamble online using the cards had been made, they were blocked each time so they were forced to use them in physical sites.
There are currently around 80,000 ASPEN card users in the UK.
Shadow Home Secretary told PoliticsHome: “It is shocking that over 6,000 illegal immigrants have attempted to use hard-working British taxpayers’ to gamble.
“They have illegally entered this country without needing to - is safe, and no one needs to flee from there.
“The British taxpayer has , and now they slap us in the face by using the money they are given to fund gambling.
“These illegal immigrants clearly don’t need the money they are given if they are squandering it at casinos and arcades.”
