Inside the West Midlands town named as Britain's most bingo-mad spot

Tipton residents have reacted with a mixture of pride, amusement and indifference after a new study crowned the Black Country town the most bingo-mad place in the UK.

The research, based on Google search data for bingo-related terms, placed Tipton at the top of a nationwide ranking, ahead of communities in Lincolnshire, Tyne and Wear and County Durham. The town recorded the highest combined score across six bingo-related search terms, underlining what researchers described as a particularly strong local interest in the game.

But what do Tipton residents make of their new title?

Some residents are big fans of bingo and play weekly, including June Mann and Marian Keeling who bemoaned the lack of a bingo hall in the town. “The nearest one is in Wednesbury, but we play every Tuesday at the old St Paul’s school,” they said.

But what is it about bingo that seems to have gripped the town?

“It’s nice to win money,” one local said. “Hey, I won £12 yesterday, what about that? Today I’ve had beans on toast for my breakfast at the café with that money!”

Others recalled even bigger wins at the bingo.

“One day the prize was £1,000 and I called HOUSE HOUSE HOUSE. I was with my mom and my auntie and they went hysterical,” one lady said.

It is not just the ladies of Tipton who make up the bingo-mad population either. One man, a Tipton resident, revealed he had been at a bingo night with a friend who came home with a £1,000 jackpot too.

“It was at a Mecca Bingo in Wednesbury years ago, and he won the link,” he explained. “£1,000 he won, and that’s the attraction of bingo, the fact you can win yourself some money.”

The news came as a surprise to some people, despite many people having played at some point in their lives.

“I might play it, but I don’t like it,” Margaret, a friend of June and Marian, laughed. “Don’t ask me any of the calls, I only know ‘Two Fat Ladies (88) and Quack Quack (22).”

Marian added: “Whenever number 10 gets called out someone shouts: ‘Get him out!’”

In the town centre, one surprised resident said: “Bingo? I played it once on my holidays and lost the will to live.”