Blackpool's dismay at casino snub

The Casino Advisory Panel made its recommendation on Tuesday, ending months of speculation over the site.

Steve Weaver, Blackpool Council's chief executive, said the resort was "surprised and hugely disappointed" the panel did not go for the favourite.

"It just makes us more determined not to give up," he added.

Although seven towns and cities were short listed to bid for the licence to build a venue for up to 1,250 unlimited-jackpot fruit machines, Blackpool was regarded as a joint front runner with Greenwich.

The news has astounded some councillors and regeneration experts: even the North West Development Agency, which covers Manchester and Blackpool, had backed the seaside resort.

Doug Garrett, chief executive of ReBlackpool, the urban regeneration company that worked on the town's bid, said: "I'm very disappointed indeed at the outcome, Blackpool's future was something built around our plan.

"We believe the case that we put forward was a compelling one.

"We certainly won't be taking this as an end result. We still want to see change here."

His views were echoed by Alan Cavill, head of corporate policy and development at Blackpool council.

He admitted that Manchester was probably the worst location for the town because its vicinity was close enough to draw visitors away from Blackpool.

"We are absolutely gutted. Seven years of work has gone into this bid," he said.

"We will fight this decision by lobbying and try to change it and we will continue with the process and try to get an early release of new licenses if that's possible."

'Move forward'

Under the guidelines, the super-casino must address a need for regeneration in the chosen area, which is likely to have high levels of unemployment and social deprivation.

According to studies from the Institute for Public Policy Research, the number of tourists visiting Blackpool is dropping by up to 2% each year.

Blackpool South Labour MP Gordon Marsden said he was "obviously very disappointed" at the decision.

"We believe it was right that the casino should go outside of London, but it should have come to Blackpool.

"We had all the support and backing. We will have to look very carefully at the fine print of the decision and then decide how to move forward."

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