New law leads to boom for casinos

You can now visit a UK casino without joining in advance

The UK's largest casino operator says punters are streaming into its venues following the liberalisation of the nation's gambling laws.

Stanley Leisure has seen a rapid growth in attendance since a rule demanding gamblers be a member of a casino for 24 hours before attending was abolished.

The change, part of the Gambling Act, came into force on 1st October 2005.

In the six months to the end of April, Stanley said, there has been a 17.2% like-for-like rise in visits.

The firm said in its Scottish outlets, attendance had remained "strong" since the introduction of the smoking ban on 26th March, but admitted it was too early to predict the long term effect of that law change.

Last week Rank Leisure reported that three weeks into the ban, entries to its Mecca Bingo halls in Scotland had fallen.

Stanley, which has four casinos in central London and 40 elsewhere in the country, sold its retail betting shop business to William Hill last year for £504m.

In an update ahead of final results, the Liverpool-based firm said it had traded in line with expectations for the year to the end of April.