£6m fittings on cards at casino

Gambling machines, poker tables and Las Vegas-style fitt-ings worth up to £6 million are being installed at Wolverhampton's newest casino, the Express & Star can reveal today.

The historic former Low Level station is currently being transformed into a casino, bar and restaurant. Oswin Developments, the firm behind the renovation, has spent around 18 months studying old photographs of the station to bring it back to its former glory. It had initially hoped the striking complex would open its doors at the end of summer.

But bosses today revealed the project had been delayed due to the original building firm going into liquidation.

New contractors are now finishing off and the complex is on course to open before Christmas.

Intricate ceiling plasterwork has been replicated to exact detail to stand alongside original features to give a new generation of customers a taste of the past.Windows and doors have also been installed and rotting brickwork around the grand sweeping window arches restored. Old York stone, which made up the original station platform, has been used to landscape land around the site.

Customers will also be given a taste of contemporary luxury with the creation of a futuristic glass curtain to house a casino, restaurant and bar.

Work is set to be complete in March and then Claremont Leisure will move in to fit out the interior with gambling machines, blinking neon lights, poker tables and mirrored walls.

Jonathan Cox, managing director of Oswin Developments, said: "It will be a top-class facility that is not seen around the area at the moment. There was a slight delay when the builders went into liquidation but it is back on track now and we are really pleased with how it is going.

"Around £6 million is being spent to fit it out to make it into something really special."

The Bluebrick restaurant and 89-bed Premier Travel Inn hotel have already transformed the site around the former station, which shut in 1972.

Since opening in June, the restaurant has welcomed more than 35,000 visitors.

By Victoria Nash