Fruit machines may lead to millions of children getting addicted to gambling, a government adviser has warned.

Professor Mark Griffiths said fruit machines can be the first step on the road to addiction and a life of crime.

Griffiths, Europe's only professor of gambling, told the Daily Mail ministers are "naive" about the dangers of slot machines.

"Ministers say they want to protect the most vulnerable from the dangers of gambling. If they are serious, they must stop children playing these machines," he said.

The major concern is 'category D' machines, which take 10p stakes and pay out up to £5.

The new Gambling Act allows children to play them alongside other amusement arcade games.

Griffiths said: "It is extremely short-sighted to cling to the view that these slot machines are acceptable because they do not cost much to play.

"You can lose large amounts of money very quickly. For some, the dangers of fruit machines will grow as liberalisation of casinos gives young people more opportunities to gamble with higher stakes and for bigger jackpots.

"In the past 10 years, fruit machines have been the predominant form of gambling by pathological gamblers treated in self-help groups and treatment centres across Europe."

In his submission to the Culture Department's consultation process, Griffiths said one in 25 youth crimes is "slot machine-related", and blamed the machines for "delinquency, alcohol and substance abuse, poor school performance, theft and truancy".

He also cautioned ministers that those who gamble as adolescents are more likely to become problem gamblers as adults.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "We will consider professor Griffiths' responses to the consultation carefully, as we will all other responses to the consultation.

"During the passage of the bill, ministers considered all the independent evidence available concerning children gambling and decided that the case for a total ban was not proven.

"However, the Gambling Act will see the removal of over 6,000 fruit machines from chip shops and taxi offices where children can play them unsupervised, and will also see stakes and prizes significantly reduced.

"We will carefully monitor the impact of these machines, and will not hesitate to use our reserve powers if there's evidence that these machines are causing harm to children."