Colchester Buzz Bingo player banned for life

Maureen Potticary, of Colchester, has been a member at Buzz Bingo, in Osbourne Street, for five and a half years, reportedly forking out £100-a-month for the privilege.

The 52-year-old uses her passion as a way to socialise and spends most of her days - sometimes for as long as ten hours - in the gambling venue along with her friends.

During a recent visit to Buzz Bingo, on the evening of June 16, Maureen decided to have a couple of alcoholic drinks – something she says never usually does.

Upset - Maureen Potticary, of Colchester, who has been banned from Buzz Bingo (Image: Public)

Before long, she started to feel rather intoxicated, which she puts down to the fact she chose to drink despite taking medication PTSD.

Days later she received a letter telling her she had been banned from Buzz Bingo for a year due to her apparently behaving in an “inappropriate manner” towards staff.

After disputing the allegation, she was sent another letter, this time stating a decision had been made to close her account “indefinitely”.

In a document seen by the Gazette, Buzz Bingo bosses also stressed they would try where possible to prevent Maureen from ever being able to create a new account.

Maureen, who claims she did nothing to warrant a lifetime ban, said: “I was drunk, because I don’t drink, but I did say sorry. [I didn’t cause trouble or abuse anyone].

“My friends are not happy and I am very upset. I just want to go back.”

Venue - Buzz Bingo, in Osbourne Street (Image: Google Maps)

Bosses at Buzz Bingo have now doubled-down on their ruling, stating the decision to remove Maureen for good remains the right one.

A spokesman for the business said: “We can confirm we are aware of the situation with this member.

“Colleagues at Buzz Bingo Colchester are trained to deal with situations such as this.

“We can confirm on the occasion in question, the team followed all the correct procedures and the decision was made in line with our protocol and club rules.”