Casino left in limbo as plan on ice

A casino in Wolverhampton city centre is set to miss out on hosting three major poker tournaments because of the chaos surrounding the stalled £300 million Summer Row shopping scheme.

Bosses at the Rubicon on Temple Street today said they felt in "limbo" because they had been banking on Multi Developments to stump up the cash so they could forge ahead with a move to an unnamed site.

But they say now that the move has been delayed by at least six months after Multi pulled out of investing £150 million into Summer Row because of the credit crunch.

The expanded casino would have created up to 50 more jobs, with live entertainment, bars restaurants and cafes. Bosses say its share of the money is ready to be spent on the move, but they were relying on the cash from the sale of the site to Multi before they could go ahead with the move.

The 12,000 sq ft Rubicon, which will mark its fifth anniversary in April, is one of several businesses set to be demolished to make way for the Summer Row project, due to begin by March.

Duncan Savage, operations director at Rubicon owners Blue Chip Casinos, said: "We're in limbo really. "We've been offered the opportunity to stage three very large national poker tournaments because of the uncertainty we've had to say 'no'."