A Yorkshire couple honoured for services to those bereaved by gambling-related suicide say their MBEs feel like a recognition of the huge harm that is being caused by "toxic" betting products.

Liz and Charles Ritchie, who set up the charity Gambling with Lives following the death of their 24-year-old son Jack in 2017, say they believe the honour recognises all those who have worked to raise awareness of the issue, and the families who have lost loved ones.

Mr and Mrs Richie, from Sheffield, have worked to raise awareness of gambling-related suicide which they say is directly linked to addictive betting products and the industry's 'predatory' marketing practices.

Mrs Ritchie said: "We thought it was a positive thing to accept the MBE on behalf of everybody who's died and their families, who have worked with us. And, to be honest, it feels like a recognition of the suffering that the people who have died went through and the suffering that the families continue to feel."

Liz and Charles Ritchie speaking on the steps of Sheffield Town Hall following the conclusion of the inquest into the death of their son, Jack Ritchie, a teacher who killed himself after battling a gambling addiction. (Photo credit: Dave Higgens/PA Wire)

She said: "People don't have to die, we can prevent the deaths. It is down to inaction and the predatory marketing of very toxic products that is causing these deaths. It can be stopped, and what this MBE feels like is that it's a recognition of the harm. It says the State sees you, sees the harm being caused."

Former NHS consultant psychotherapist Mrs Ritchie said: "Make no mistake, we're not going away. There are more and more people joining us. If you want to cause people to rise and cause people anger, you harm their children. And that's what's happening. What we're doing is warning the country. The whole country has been groomed into thinking that this is normal, this gambling is normal."

Mr Ritchie said they have never called for a gambling ban but have campaigned for the regulation of certain types of betting products, especially online.

He said Gambling with Lives' key aims are a gambling advertising ban, affordability checks, and for a levy to make sure the industry, rather than the taxpayer, foots the bill for properly provided treatment, public information and education programmes.

The couple say responsibility for the harm needs to be on the government and industry rather than solely on the individual who is drawn into gambling.

And they said they are hoping a White Paper on gambling reform, which was ready to be published just before Boris Johnson resigned as prime minister, will be resurrected in the New Year.

Mrs Ritchie said: "There is an oven-ready White Paper waiting to go out. And it's been up grabs. We know it's been subject to a lot of lobbying by the gambling companies, so we will see how much the Government has given way."

Her husband added: "The truth is that another 200 people will have died since that White Paper was delayed."

In 2018 former civil servant Mr Ritchie collated worldwide research to conclude that between 250 and 650 people in the UK take their lives each year because of gambling.

Teacher Jack Ritchie died in Vietnam in November 2017.

In March, Sheffield coroner David Urpeth said that Jack's death is a "stark reminder of the terrible consequences that can flow from an addiction to gambling", adding that the information about the dangers of gambling available at the time "was woefully inadequate and failed to meet Jack's needs".

Speaking after the inquest, Mr and Mrs Ritchie said their son "was abused by parasites who inflict life-threatening illness for profit".

Liz and Charles Ritchie: Yorkshire couple say MBEs are recognition of harm gambling can wreak