Super Casino Shortlist Awaited

A shortlist of possible sites for 17 new Land Based Casinos, including Britain's first "super casino", is due to be announced.

More than 60 local authorities will hear whether they have reached the next stage of the bid for casino licences.

Blackpool, the Millennium Dome, in London, and Glasgow are among possible locations for the super casino, which would have unlimited jackpots.

Social and regeneration impacts will be considered by the Casino Advisory Panel set up by the government.

East Manchester, Cardiff, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and Southampton are also among the 27 councils hoping to win a licence for Britain's first super - or regional - casino.

The others are Brent, Chesterfield, Coventry, Dartford, Dudley, Great Yarmouth, Greenwich (Millennium Dome site), Havering, Hull, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Midlothian, Newport, Solihull (NEC site), Southend-on-Sea, Sunderland, Thurrock, Wakefield and West Dunbartonshire.

The government originally suggested there should be eight super casinos, but after widespread opposition and claims they would lead to a big increase in gambling addiction, the plans were scaled down to just one.

However, 16 licences will be available for smaller casinos with jackpot limits of £4,000.

Labour MP John Grogan said super casinos, such as those in Atlantic City, could have a "chilling effect on the area around. Many businesses, hotels, smaller gambling businesses have gone out of business. So we've got to be very cautious about this. Let's test it in one area and see what happens."

He also voiced concerns about the "extremely addictive" nature of the unlimited stakes and unlimited prizes that would be on offer.

But Tony Wollenberg, a solicitor representing Las Vegas Sands, one of the companies hoping to run a British super casino, said casinos would bring economic benefits.

He said: "The case for regeneration has been made extensively by a number of overseas operators who are prepared to invest billions of dollars in regenerating rundown cities, creating jobs, creating inward investment dollars for the Treasury and overall economic benefits."

The advisory panel is offering licences for one super casino, eight large casinos and eight small.

The main variation between the three is the size of the customer area allowed, the number of slot machines and size of the jackpot.

The super casino will have a minimum customer area of 5,000 sq m and 1,250 unlimited-jackpot slot machines, while large casinos will have a minimum area of 1,000 sq m and up to 150 slot machines with a maximum jackpot of £4,000.

The small casinos will have a minimum customer area of 750 sq m, up to 80 slot machines and a jackpot of £4,000.

The panel's final decision is expected in December 2006.

The announcement follows a report from an advice charity showing it has seen a dramatic rise in the number of people seeking help for online gambling addictions - women in particular.

GamCare found the number of people using the charity for counselling had increased by 41.3% - to 6,563 people - between 2004 and 2005.

It said more than a quarter of gambling addicts using the charity's online message forum were women.