Stanley Leisure's Star City casino is "the Vegas experience", apparently

The UK gaming group said it had lost significant amounts of cash to high-betting players at its London venues.

It also admitted it was having problems recovering more than �3m in debts owed by other major players.

But, on a positive note it did add that its betting arm had "exceeded expectations" and that it still might be possible to beat 2003's results.

It said this was dependent upon how much debt it claws back.

The group's gaming division has battled a tough environment - with its Star City site trading at a loss.

Debt trouble

Stanley said a series of big wins for its high stakes players at its prestigious Crockford's casino in Mayfair, London, had eaten into profits.

And fellow London site the Colony Club had suffered the same fate in the second half of the year, while Star City in Birmingham traded at a loss - as was expected.

But, betting was a big winner - with Stanley benefiting from horse racing and sports results that were "much more favourable to bookmakers" than they had been last year.

Meanwhile, profits from its fixed odds betting machines - which helped almost double the division's profits last year - had also performed well.