THE sky is the limit for bingo players in Bolton thanks to changes to the rules governing the amount of prize money available.

Participants in the national bingo game --which is played at both Bolton's Mecca Bingo halls -- now stand to win £2 million as the Government has increased the prize limit in both the national and link bingo games.

A spokesman for Mecca Bingo, which has bingo halls in Ashburner Street and Breightmet Fold Lane, said they were not sure if the move would bring a surge in new fans, but welcomed the moves.

He added: "At this stage we can not comment on whether this will increase the number of customers. But we do think that this is positive for the bingo industry."

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has increased the aggregate weekly amount a bingo club or group can award to winners of a link game from £55,000 a week to £500,000.

In link games anything between 200 and 500 clubs can link up together via a computer network, while the caller of the game is in only one club.

For the national game the amount an individual winner can receive has shot up from £500,000 to £2 million.

House games -- where the caller and the players are in the same bingo hall -- are unaffected by the prize limit increase.

However, a group which looks at the social impact of gambling was not happy with the new laws.

Professor Mark Griffiths, chairman of GamCare, said: "We are likely to see an increase in people who will start playing the game for the money rather than for the social aspect, and as a consequence there will be more problems."