Labour U-turn triggers casinos' fury

CASINO operators today ferociously criticised Government figures being used to justify its U-turn on deregulation, which is set to damage long-established British firms.

British gambling companies already operating in the UK will be excluded from putting new 50p slot machines into their existing casinos, allowing them only 10 on each site, while newcomers opening for business will be allowed many more.

The move was part of a reaction from the Government to the media uproar against its proposals to sweep away decades-old legislation.

Speaking for the Government as it attempts to get the Bill through the House of Lords, Lord McIntosh claimed this week that the British Casinos Association's call for equal rights on slot machine numbers would lead to 10,000 new so-called 'category B' slot machines flooding the country.

But BCA chairman Penny Cobham today said the actual number would be less than half of that amount.

'We know our estates extremely well and believe that the number would be under 5,000 due to several practical reasons, not least a lack of physical space in existing casinos,' she said.