THE HUMAN cost of internet gambling was dramatically illustrated this week when a young Five Valleys man admitted stealing more than £30,000 from his parents to fund his addiction.

Nicholas Cleasby, 29, admitted 32 charges relating to a six-month campaign of forgery and theft - and asked for 194 more offences to be taken into consideration when he appeared at Stroud Magistrates' Court.

Cleasby, of Bath Road, Eastington, took out three credit cards in his parents' names and plundered their bank accounts between September 2004 and March 2005, the court heard on Friday.

Prosecutor Rosalind Cameron-Mowat said the defendant's father Terry Cleasby reported his son's crimes to the police in March.

After being arrested, Cleasby admitted his guilt and was later found to have squandered a total of £30,670.

"The vast majority of these transactions were internet betting transactions - which as you can see were not successful," said Mrs Cameron-Mowat.

Nicola Berryman, defending, said Cleasby had an internet gambling problem.

"That is the reason behind these offences," she said. Cleasby will be sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court on Friday, September 30.

Research has found that internet gambling is a growing problem, particularly among unmarried young men.

Survey group Forrester recently found that 76 per cent of the UK's 29 million adult internet users admit to regularly placing a bet either online or offline.

It is thought that the web may attract people who are trying to hide their gambling addiction.

A spokesman for support group Gamblers Anonymous told the SNJ that internet gambling addicts were now appearing at their groups.

"We still get all sorts of people coming through," he said. "We have seen police officers, pregnant mothers, and millionaires who lost their fortune and are back waiting tables.

"It is very easy to fall into this kind of trap when you are compulsive - all you think is gamble, gamble, gamble. But thankfully there is hope of recovery."

The growing demand for online gambling was demonstrated this summer when Partygaming - the owner of the Partypoker website - made a hugely successful debut on the UK stockmarket.

Set up in 1997, the site had profits of £371-million last year.

* For more information on Gamblers Anonymous call the national helpline on 08700 50 88 80 or visit gamblersanonymous.org.uk