The Ambassador, which stands in Nairn High Street, is owned by Mr Remo Caira, who lives in Forres.

It will close its doors for the final time on Sunday, June 17, and on the same evening, another of his bingo halls, the Regal Ambassador in Macduff, will also pull down the shutters.

Mr Caira, who will be concentrating on other business interests, said the decision to close the two centres was partly because of last year's smoking ban in public places.

He told the "Gazette's" sister paper, the "Banffshire Journal" that the number of people attending had also started to drop off.

"Many people enjoyed a smoke while at the bingo," he said. "When the smoking ban began to kick in, less people came to the bingo.

"When less people came along, prizes were smaller, and this, in turn meant that less people came along. It was an ongoing spiral.

"However, you simply can't keep pouring money into a black hole."

Regulars at both bingo halls will then get together on the final Sunday to mark the last "house".

Customers of the Regal in Macduff are being bussed to Nairn, where they will join the Ambassador regulars for a farewell party.

Mr Caira said both halls had been sold to a property developer and believed they would probably become flats.

Meanwhile, a call is being made for Moray's MP to assist in the fight to safeguard the future of Scotland's ailing bingo industry.

Angus Robertson is to be invited to visit one of the North-east's last surviving independent bingo clubs so he can learn at first hand about the decline of the once-thriving business.

It is the latest effort by Lossiemouth's Quayside Bingo boss James Allan to raise awareness of the plight the industry has faced since the ban on smoking came into effect in March last year.

Mr Allan as already gathered 500 names on the national petition calling on the Government to 'stop destroying bingo'.

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