65 could face legal action from a customer who has struggled for two months to have her £54,000 account balance transferred to her bank account, the Guardian has reported.

Having opened an account with the operator on 16 April, the unidentified woman lost £23,000 of her initial deposit of £30,000 on horseracing bets the following day, receiving an email on the same day informing her that her maximum bet limit had been raised.

Increasing her remaining £7000 to £54,000 on 18 April through further bets, the woman was allegedly informed that as a result of an internal “trading decision” taken by the operator, her account would be limited to a maximum stake of £1 on racing bets.

Despite receiving an email ten days later from the operator telling her that her identity had been “fully verified”, the woman’s stream of email and phone communication, alongside compliance with requests to submit bank statements to confirm the source of her funds, has failed to secure the transferral of the £54,000 to her debit card.

She has reportedly decided that legal action is now her only recourse.

The UK Horseracing Bettors’ Forum recently estimated that 20,000 British online accounts were closed by operators over the last six months, often with no warning or formal explanation.

Paul Fairhead, a campaigner on gambling issues, is quoted by the Guardian as saying: “I see at least one new case like this every week.

“Nobody should have difficulties like this, they are holding on to the money in the hope that the problem goes away.

“This would never happen in any other industry, that a customer can choose to trade with somebody and at the point when you do that, there’s a risk you’ll never see it again whether you win or lose.”