The worst fears of those in Manchester who had fought hard to secure a Super Casino licence are expected to be realized today when the government is expected to officially announce the scrapping of the super-casino idea.
They are likely to be approved 16 regional casinos however for towns across the UK, including Leeds, Milton Keynes, Swansea and Stranraer.
Manchester had won the bid to develop a Las Vegas-style resort but Gordon Brown effectively killed off the plans soon after taking over as prime minister.
Manchester City Council may appeal against a decision to ditch its casino.
In January last year, Manchester was the surprise winner of a bid to create a huge casino in a depressed area of the city.
But Gordon Brown announced a review of the decision in July, saying super-casinos were not the best way to regenerate run-down areas.
It’s been known for some time that the Super Casino would not be given the go ahead though a formal announcement will rubber stamp the bad news for those in Manchester who had lobbied hard to secure the award.
Culture secretary Andy Burnham is expected to confirm in a statement to MPs that the super-casino will be ditched.
An announcement is also expected from communities secretary Hazel Blears on an alternative development package for the Manchester area.
Reports have indicated that casinos holding up to 150 slot machines with prizes of up to £4,000 are expected to be approved in Leeds, Southampton, Great Yarmouth, Middlesboro, Solihull, Hull, Milton Keynes, and Newham in east London.
Permission has been predicted for smaller casinos in the Bath area; Stranraer in south-west Scotland; Scarborough; Wolverhampton; Swansea; Luton; Torbay in Devon; and East Lindsey in Lincolnshire, an area which contains resorts including Skegness.
Mr. Brown's spokesman said: "As we said in July, there is a huge difference in scale in terms of gambling opportunities in a super-casino and smaller casinos.
"What we said was we would work up alternative regeneration packages which did not rely on a super-casino."
Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "After seven months of dithering, the government's gambling policy is a mess.
"When will the government understand this is not about the size of the casino but the underlying protections put in place to prevent and treat a social disorder that breaks up families?"
Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster said the government's gambling policy
was "muddled and confused" with the original local authority bids for the super-casino costing more than £1m of taxpayers' money.
Unlike his predecessor Gordon Brown seems to fear the impact of gambling on society in the UK and the failure of the Super Casino idea to get off the ground may only be one of a number of pieces of bad news for the industry during the Scotsman’s time in office.
