Date of closure: April 2021
Address (for reference only):
Mecca Bingo (Lost Halls)
57 London Road
Bedford
MK42 0NX
Bedford’s London Road Mecca is a good example of what a lot of British bingo actually looked like away from the grand old cinema conversions. It was a large purpose-built club of around 1,000 capacity, sitting just south of Bedford town centre on a roughly 0.99-acre site, with the building spread over ground, first and mezzanine floors totalling almost 19,500 square feet, plus a surface and undercroft car park for around 40 cars. Mecca operated on a lease dating from August 2006, though the original opening date of the club itself isn’t reliably documented anywhere. Architecturally it was never going to compete with a Garrick or a Green’s Playhouse, one review even noted the exterior looked rather dated, but the interior had been repeatedly refreshed over the years and offered a well-stocked bar and a substantial café, with Harry Ramsden’s food on the menu in its later years.
Well served by local bus routes and its own car park, the club functioned as a proper town bingo venue, part bingo hall, part bar and restaurant, for the local community. It closed permanently as part of Mecca’s brutal COVID-era estate rationalisation, with the company confirming on 7 April 2021 that Bedford would not reopen when clubs were permitted to resume trading that May, just days after the same fate befell York’s Fishergate club. There’s no particularly notable afterlife to report for the building, unlike some of the more architecturally significant former Meccas, though Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue’s records do preserve one wonderfully random footnote: in November 2015 a specialist rescue team was called out after a man became trapped in the club’s coffee machine. Demolition finally began in May 2026, and the site has since been cleared to make way for new housing, bringing an end to almost twenty years of Mecca history on London Road.
Other Lost Halls In The Area
Here are some photos of the Bedford Mecca Bingo on London Road from Twitter and Facebook, to give you a flavour of the club, its customers and decoration. The photographers are unknown, but if one of these is yours let us know and we’ll add a credit.
Also, if you have photos to add here, please contact us here to share them.
I have been many times on a Wednesday evening and have never been able to purchase a PET unless I get there at around 6.30pm. I did ask if they would think about purchasing more but the reply I got was they are too expensive! Not nice.
The heating/aircon is a disgrace, surely it’s not too difficult to maintain a reasonable temperature throughout the evening, it’s too hot and stuffy!
How can the same people keep winning night after night week after week? This needs looking in to. I play every night and have only won 4 times in 4 years. It’s not right how the same people are winning all the time.
Where do I start? The staff are so miserable and there are not many staff on the floor, which means my hand is always up for change and I always have to find someone myself. The new Max machines are too slow and they dont have that many in? But the food has definitely got better with their new menu and table service. Come on Mecca sort it out!
Very hot inside and stuffy, needs air con? Always the same people winning and never seen someone win with the books. Always winners with the machines! Also they should have prices up on the website on how much it is for the books and machines as they vary in price everyday.
Why are members of staff putting electronic boards aside for certain members who win regularly? Several members have witnessed this happening, and some have brought this to managements attention to no avail. Also, why does Mecca not display book and electronic prices on the website.