The betting industry has threatened to redirect a quarter of the funds expected to go to a charity tackling harms caused by gambling, the Guardian understands.

The four largest members of the Betting and Gaming Council have in the past pledged to use GambleAware as the main commissioner of any money it gave to tackle problems caused by its activities.

But sources at GambleAware said the charity was informed in recent weeks by BGC that in future, 25% of funds would be kept back to distribute directly to projects chosen by Bet365, Flutter Entertainment, [Entain] and William Hill.

The industry-funded charity currently chooses how money is spent to tackle gambling harm – whether that is on research, education and prevention work, or treatment.