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Created on Tuesday, 30 January 2007 13:41

Manchester Super Casino

And the winner of the UK supercasino race is........Manchester. The outcome is a setback for the bids from Blackpool and London's Dome, now rebranded O2, which were the bookies' top picks.
The recently awarded licence will enable the former gritty northern town to construct an entertainment complex with up to 1,250 unlimited slot machines and one armed bandits.

Licences for smaller casinos went to the towns of Great Yarmouth, Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, Solihull and Southampton.

The Casino Advisory Panel also gave permission for smaller casinos to be built in Bath and North East Somerset, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Luton, Scarborough, Swansea, Torbay and Wolverhampton.

Manchester was a 16-1 outside chance at the bookies to be chosen as a test  for the United Kingdom's first super "resort" casino.

There has been talk that additional super casino licences might be chosen in the future by ministers. But Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell is expected to say later that there will categorically be no more licences given away this Parliament. Stephen Crow, who was leading the Casino Advisory Panel, said that Manchester had been selected because of its thorough research of the local community and how it had addressed concerns over problem gambling.

Doug Garrett, of ReBlackpool, the outfit that worked on Blackpool's bid, said the award was a "smack in the face for Blackpool". "Manchester has come from nowhere. It was a real dark horse," he said.

Dome bidders AEG were also very dissappointed. 

The new casino will be located at Sportcity in the Beswick region of Manchester, in the shadow of the City of Manchester Stadium, the home of Manchester City FC and constructed for the Commonwealth Games.

The new site will contain an entertainment complex with a multi-purpose arena, swimming facilites, an sports venue, restaurants and food halls, bars, a night club and a hotel.