When it rains for the current Government it pours.

The British Casino Association (BCA) today won the right to challenge the governments existing plans on the development of the 17 new nationwide casinos.

High Court judge Mr. Justice Collins has allowed a three-day hearing that will take place before May 25 that will allow the BCA to argue that the laws for the planned new casinos place existing casinos at an unfair disadvantage.

This is because the new casinos would be allowed slot machines that carry bigger jackpots than existing ones.

"We have consistently argued that existing casinos would be unfairly treated under the terms of the Act through its inherent inequality and incoherence,” said Penny Cobham, BCA chairwoman.

It is a further setback for the government and Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, who suffered an embarrassing defeat in the House of Lords last week as peers voted against the plans for the UK’s first super casino in the city of Manchester.

The government’s plans have come under criticism from all angles, with the Liberal Democrat’s suggesting the whole process has been “ill-thought-out” and accused the government of trying to “railroad (the legislation) through Parliament”.

"The Association strongly believes that the Secretary of State has erred in considering and determining the arrangements for existing casinos in such a way that gives rise to very serious concerns about their impact and lawfulness," the BCA added in a statement.

If the BCA are successful in their legal challenge it will almost certainly scupper Tessa Jowell’s plans for Britain’s first super casino in Manchester and the 16 smaller venues.

It’s not yet known if the High Court would have granted to right to appeal to the BCA had the Casino Advisory panel’s recommendations been passed in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

A betting man would surely now favour the entire draft proposal to be dead in the water.