'Supercasino axing' branded unfair

The reported axing of Manchester's proposed supercasino has been described as "little short of madness" by a business chief.

Manchester fought off stiff competition from Blackpool and the Millennium Dome in Greenwich when it won the right to host the UK's first supercasino last January.

Angie Robinson, chief executive of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said it was unfair to win a competition and then have the first prize taken away.

Whitehall insiders dubbed the controversial Las Vegas-style casino as "dead in the water" after Gordon Brown announced a review after becoming Prime Minister last year.

And Mr Brown stunned the Commons when he suggested regeneration might be a better way forward than building a supercasino in the city at one of his first appearances as Prime Minister.

In a letter to devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, officials have reportedly made it clear that it will be axed - but 16 large-scale and smaller casinos elsewhere will still be built.

Up to 1,250 unlimited jackpot gaming machines were set to be housed in the Sportcity complex in Beswick, east Manchester.

The plans were projected to bring in some £265 million investment and up to 2,700 direct and indirect jobs in a deprived area of the city.

But the scheme was put on ice last March when peers rejected a proposed supercasino by just three votes after MPs backed it by a majority of 24.

Ms Robinson said: "I am somewhat surprised that if the story is correct it has come out in media speculation.

"This will be a massive blow to desperately needed regeneration plans for the deprived area of east Manchester.

"Massive public and private sector investment has been lined up, with the potential creation of up to 3,000 jobs.

"The process went through Parliament and it was then put to an independent panel which decided Manchester was the most appropriate choice for regeneration.

"Then all of a sudden someone does not want it to go ahead. It's little short of madness.

"A lot of time, effort and money was spent on this bid for a contest which we thought was real."

Large casinos are due to be built in Great Yarmouth, Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, Solihull and Southampton.

The sites chosen for smaller venues are Bath and North East Somerset, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Luton, Scarborough, Swansea, Torbay and Wolverhampton.

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