SOLIHULL, WOLVES HIT CASINO JACKPOT

30-01-2007

Solihull and Wolverhampton have both been granted a licence to host new casinos - but the Casino Advisory Panel has sprung a surprise by handing Britain's first “supercasino” to Manchester.

It was expected that either Blackpool or the Millennium Dome in Greenwich would be awarded the top prize, but Manchester's offer - based at the Eastlands stadium used for the Commonwealth Games - snuck in under the wire.

Eastlands, now home to Manchester City FC, can look forward to the addition of a hotel and a Vegas-style entertainment complex with hundreds of slot machines. Civic leaders there are talking up the regeneration prospects for a rundown inner city area.

Birmingham, of course, might have been able to boast something similar if it had pursued Birmingham City's bid for a new stadium allied to a casino on the Wheels site in Adderley Park, but in its wisdom (!), the city council decided to back an offer based around the National Exhibition Centre.

That didn't even make the final round of bidding, but now that Solihull has been awarded the chance to have one of the second tier large casinos, the NEC will at least have an opportunity to boost its coffers.

Wolverhampton has been awarded one of the smaller “third tier” casinos, with the racecourse at Dunstall Park the likeliest home.

Are you worried that Birmingham missed out on the supercasino. Or with the potential for people to get the gambling bug, have we had a lucky escape? Leave a comment on our messageboard.