Jim Clarke Politics Show North West

Behind the tourist facade lies social deprivation

You have just fed a slot machine with all your money then along comes someone else, puts one coin in and wins the jackpot. Sickening.

That is what they must feel like in Blackpool at the moment.

The town has spent years and lots of money lobbying the government to liberalise gambling laws, to remove restrictions on casinos and slot machines.

Now the government is planning to do just that - but Blackpool could lose out spectacularly.

Blackpool, like many British seaside resorts, is in decline.

Its status as the favoured holiday destination for the workers of Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow has long been ceded to the Costa's and Florida.

And behind the garish facade of the Golden Mile lies one of the poorest urban areas in the country.

The indices of deprivation: health, employment and educational achievement show it to be the tenth worst in England.

Las Vegas style gambling machines bound for North West cities?

Master plan?

Something had to be done.

The answer was something grandly titled "The Master plan".

This involved turning the resort into a 52 week a year economy.

If three or four huge Las Vegas style "regional casinos" could be built along the front, Blackpool could turn itself into a major entertainment centre based around gambling.

Blackpool lobbied hard and long to get the law changed to allow the large scale resort casinos to be built.

GAMBLING BILL Casinos open 24 hours Immediate access for public, no 24-hour joining period Unlimited jackpots in largest casinos Betting allowed on Good Friday and Christmas Day A new criminal offence of inviting, permitting or causing a child to gamble Compulsory age checks by gambling websites operating from the UK Mystery shopper surveys by the Gambling Commission to check rules followed Tighter restrictions on betting exchanges Allowing casinos to advertise for first time Analysis: Australian lessons?

The current, highly controversial, gambling bill does just that, allowing an unlimited number of new casinos

There are three categories of casino in the bill - "small", "large" and "regional".

The locations of the huge regional casinos, the ones Blackpool wants, will be decided not by local councils but by the North West regional planning body.

But even if the Regional planning body wants the casinos to go to Blackpool, will the casinos want to go?

Reluctant casino's?

Casinos will be more tightly controlled to protect "vulnerable gamblers"

The big American operators like MGM favour building in highly-populated areas with a large working class population - the social group most likely to feed those slot machines.

They are talking about places like Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds - not Blackpool.

If the casinos go to the big cities of the north, Blackpool's plans are dead in the water.

"We need a critical mass of two or three big casinos to make our plan work.

"We cannot have resort casinos in other parts of the North West" said Blackpool council's Reg Haslam, the man in charge of the regeneration plan.

"Blackpool has to be seen as an entertainment destination that people are going to come to two or three times a year and that would not happen if similar casinos are operating 30 miles away" he said.

But the Blackpool Master plan has as many detractors as supporters. Lib Dem councillor Stephen Bate reckons the bill currently in front of Parliament makes Blackpool's prospects look shaky.

"The casinos do not want to come here.

They will only come here if they are forced to do so and you do not want to build a town's regeneration around that surely?" he said.

"There is such a huge amount of opposition to the bill, I doubt we will even get to the stage where the locations of these casinos will be discussed.

"It is a dreadful piece of legislation that no-one wants", he said.

So what is the prospects for Blackpool's Master plan?

Politics Show

Jim Hancock talks to some of the main players and hear from Frank Field, the Birkenhead MP, who has been one of the gambling bill's most vocal opponents

Politics Show North West with Jim Hancock and Gill Dummigan.

Have your say

Let us know what you think. That is the Politics Show, Sunday, 31 October at 12.30pm.

The Politics Show is interested in your comments. Use the form below to share your views.

Disclaimer: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published.