Entain, the gambling firm behind Ladbrokes and Coral, could lose its licence to operate in the UK after it was told to pay a record £17m settlement over its inaction as individual customers spent hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The Gambling Commission highlighted multiple failings in Entain’s online and high street business, all of which occurred after the government announced a review of gambling laws that has led the industry to promise to improve controls to tackle addiction and prevent money laundering.

The “completely unacceptable” incidents, which triggered Entain’s second regulatory settlement in three years, included carrying out just one chat interaction with a customer who spent long periods gambling in the middle of the night over 18 months, depositing £230,845.