GAMBLING firms’ shares have plummeted in value following reports last Friday that the government plans to double some of the taxes paid by online casinos and bookies in the forthcoming Budget.

Shares were sent sharply lower across the sector when trading opened today, with Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain down 9 per cent.

Entain’s rivals such as William Hill and 888 group Evoke fell by 12 per cent, followed by a 5 per cent fall in Paddy Power owner Flutter.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is said to be considering the tax raid in a bid to raise up to £3 billion to help plug a £22bn “black hole” in the public finances.

The doubling of the 15 per cent general betting duty on high street bookmakers’ profits and the same increase in gaming duties, currently charged at 21 per cent, which would hit online players, could be unveiled in her Budget announcement.

The Treasury declined to comment “on speculation around tax changes outside of fiscal events.”