Manchester pubs welcome supercasino

Manchester now has the go-ahead to develop the SportCity complex in the east of the city, after being granted the licence ahead of bookies' favourites Blackpool and Greenwich.

As well as the supercasino, the site will also contain an entertainment complex, a swimming pool, an urban sports venue, restaurants, bars, a nightclub and a hotel.

Gerard Ford, licensee at the Culcheth Gates in Newton Heath, just a short walk from the site, said: "I'm absolutely shocked as I had no idea we were even in the running, but I'm over the moon. It's fantastic for the area and will bring loads of people here."

John Smith, licensee at the Vale Cottage Inn in Gorton, agreed. "I can't see it being negative" he said. "It¹s about three miles from here, in an area where a lot of pubs have closed down. We're a small, inner-city community pub, and it could bring business to the area."

However, Emmanuel Gabriel, licensee of the nearby Spanking Roger, said although the news was positive, existing pubs in the area could suffer if local licensing regulations were not reviewed.

He said: "The local licensing committee will have to review its strict policy on late licences.

"Most pubs around here are only open until 11 because the committee thinks there might be trouble, but very few local pubs actually bring any bother.

"If they offer late licences to new places it could be very discriminating. Even though we're a small establishment we'd like the opportunity to compete on an equal level with more flexible opening hours. You cannot apply one rule to one lot and not another".