Irate bingo players have clubbed together to knit voodoo dolls of Alastair Darling after he raised tax on their favourite game.
The outraged gamers, who have been angrily piercing the dolls with their needles, say they want to the Chancellor to know what it feels like to be stabbed in the back.
Bingo fan Gemma Moran, 35, said: "Alistair Darling is stabbing in the back the very people who helped to put him and the Labour party in power.
"Now we want him to know how it feels."
The players from Mecca Bingo in Chester decided to knit the wicked dolls depicting the Chancellor's face when he raised the Bingo Tax from 15 per cent to a massive 22 per cent.
Since 2006, approximately 90 bingo clubs have closed in Britain and the avid bingo players in Chester fear their club maybe next if the tax is not lowered.
"We've done this because we are disgusted at what the Chancellor is doing to bingo." Added Gemma
"Why is he making bingo pay more tax than the football pools and the bookies?
"If he doesn't keep bingo tax at 15 per cent then we're worried that clubs like ours could close.
"We come to bingo because we can meet our friends and have fun in a safe environment. If our club closed where else is there for us to go?"
Naomi Glass, Manager of Mecca Bingo in Chester said. "We can understand our customers' anger and frustration - that's how we feel too.
"How can the Government justify targeting bingo, which is mainly enjoyed by women and older people?
"We just want a fair deal for bingo - keep bingo tax at 15 per cent - the same as other forms of gaming such as the football pools, the bookies and on-line bingo and casinos."
Thousands of angry protesters from around the country descended on the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday in a bid to get the controversial decision reversed, but the Chancellor failed to turn up.
*Bingo was previously subject to both gross profits tax and VAT until the government announced VAT would no longer be levied before increasing the tax.
*Many say the rise, announced in this year's Budget, is sexist as it does not apply to betting shops or casinos but only bingo halls, where customers are predominantly female.
ELISSA CORRIGAN
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