Manchester United abandons supercasino plans

Manchester United has scrapped plans to build a Las Vegas-style supercasino next to its Old Trafford ground.

The club believes Blackpool is odds-on to win the one Government licence for a supercasino and has decided to end any further spending on the project.

The Government had originally intended to allow eight supercasinos in the UK, but ministers were forced to back down amid concerns about widespread problem gambling and social harm. In an eleventh hour compromise to secure the passage of the Gambling Bill, which establishes a new regulator for the industry, the Government agreed to allow only one "test" supercasino at a location yet to be decided.

Amid the uncertainty over who will win the licence, a spokesman for Manchester United said the club's board had decided to channel resources in to finding other uses for its land. He said: "We have withdrawn the plans for the casino, and the main reason was the changes in legislation that brought down the number of casinos from eight to one. It is unlikely that this project would come to fruition for a long time - we didn't want to tie-up resources for that amount of time."

A five-star hotel, restaurants, a health club and a sports bar were set to be part of the multimillion-pound complex planned by Las Vegas Sands, the US gaming group, on Old Trafford land.

Las Vegas Sands does not believe it is a fait accompli that Blackpool will win the supercasino licence. It has teamed up with football clubs in Birmingham, Sheffield and Glasgow, and plans to press ahead with other projects to win the prized licence. Its proposal in Glasgow, for example, has become the first supercasino development in the UK to win planning permission from its local council. A spokesman for the company said: "We believe that our other proposals have a very good case to be chosen. Each has the opportunity to bring about major regeneration to the areas in question."

As well as Las Vegas Sands, a number of overseas casino groups, including MGM Mirage, Kerzner International, Caesars Entertainment and Sun International, are bidding for the licence. They are working on projects including Wembley and the Millennium Dome in London, and other cities including Manchester and Cardiff.

The Government has suggested recently it may be willing to allow more than one supercasino development.