Three gambling businesses owned by William Hill have been hit with a record penalty after a number of ‘widespread and alarming’ failures.

It comes after the Gambling Commission found new customers were able to bet large sums over short periods without sufficient checks.

In one case, a customer was allowed to open a new account and spend £23,000 in 20 minutes without any checks.

The ‘settlement’ is the largest in the Gambling Commission’s history.

The £19 million was split between three William Hill subsidiaries:

• williamhill.com: £12.5 million
• mrgreen.com: £3.7 million
• William Hill branches: £3 million

The commission found several failures to guard against possible money laundering, with customers allowed to deposit large amounts without the business conducting appropriate checks.

One person was able to spend and lose £70,134 in a month, while another deposited £73,535 and lost £14,068 in four months.

Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes said: ‘When we launched this investigation the failings we uncovered were so widespread and alarming serious consideration was given to licence suspension.

‘However, because the operator immediately recognised their failings and worked with us to swiftly implement improvements, we instead opted for the largest enforcement payment in our history.’

Ineffective controls allowed 331 customers to gamble with WHG (International) Limited despite having self-excluded with Mr Green.

Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes said: ‘When we launched this investigation the failings we uncovered were so widespread and alarming serious consideration was given to licence suspension.

‘However, because the operator immediately recognised their failings and worked with us to swiftly implement improvements, we instead opted for the largest enforcement payment in our history.’

Mr Rhodes told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘When you consider the post-tax profits of an operator, this is a sizeable penalty, and this is not something that will be shrugged off.

‘But as we have said during the last two years, we will take escalating action if operators don’t improve.

‘I’m pleased to say that in this case we have seen good improvements within the company under their new management and ownership.’

‘We actively considered with William Hill whether we needed to suspend their licence if we didn’t see immediate and significant improvements,’ he added.

‘Since the beginning of last year we have suspended the licence of four different operators. If they don’t meet our standards it’s not something we’re afraid to do – if it’s necessary, we’ll do it.’

An 888 spokesperson said: ‘The settlement relates to the period when William Hill was under the previous ownership and management.

‘After William Hill was acquired, the company quickly addressed the identified issues with the implementation of a rigorous action plan.

‘The entire Group shares the GC’s commitment to improve compliance standards across the industry and we will continue to work collaboratively with the regulator and other stakeholders to achieve this.’

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