MPs today demand an end to “unfair” National Lottery spending that has left parts of Hampshire millions of pounds out of pocket.

The Government is urged to change rules that allow London to swipe hundreds of millions of pounds for arts projects from ticket revenues elsewhere in the country.

A study examined by the Commons culture select committee shows people in 272 local authorities have spent more on Lottery tickets than they have received in return.

They include New Forest (£8.7m), Basingstoke and Deane (£8.2m), Fareham (£6.8m), Test Valley (£6.7m), Gosport (£5.3m) and Eastleigh (£4.4m). In stark contrast, the gains in four London boroughs top £100m.

In Southampton, spending on Lottery projects since 1995 (£17.7m) is higher than on tickets £15.7m) – a “surplus” of £2m, the study suggests.

But the committee warns the divide between winners and losers is set to widen further, as a shake-up will officially allow Lottery funds to substitute for declining grants by the Arts Council.

The report says: “On any estimate, London receives a share of Lottery funding (and grant in aid funding) that is out of all proportion to its population.”

It calls for the capital to receive only “its proper per capita share”, pointing out it would still receive far more than other areas from Arts Council grants and Government funding of its galleries and museums.

And it states: “This seems a modest proposal that would not threaten London’s world status as a cultural centre.”

The committee also said that any future increase in the taxpayer grant to the Arts Council should be earmarked for projects outside the M25.

The MPs launched their inquiry amid growing protests that London grabs too much of the shrinking pot for the arts.