Casino bid may be on Molineux agenda

Molineux could still be one of the venues chosen for a multi-million pound casino, it emerged today.

It was believed Wolverhampton Racecourse was the city site being earmarked for the new purpose-built gambling hotspot.

This was despite Wolves originally expressing an interest. But Wolves today refused to rule out the possibility of a casino being built at their Molineux complex. Culture secretary Andy Burnham decided to allow the city to have one casino with 80 slot machines and jackpots of up to £4,000.

The move was made under the Gambling Act 2005, and a small casino licence was granted to Wolverhampton City Council.

Grosvenor Casinos pledged an interest in running a gambling hub at an unspecified location in the city.

The racecourse put in a bid to create a casino which would form part of a £23 million transformation of the site with a four-storey extension to the existing hotel, a new conference, exhibition and banqueting suite and a leisure complex.

Original designs for Wolverhampton's £180m Interchange transport hub also included a casino alongside new rail and bus stations, a hotel, new shops, restaurants, and 75 apartments.

Back in 2004 Wolves told a public inquiry into the casino plans that gamblers would be better served by a casino at Molineux than the racecourse.

Today Wolves spokesman Matt Grayson confirmed the club was still interested in the scheme, which could bring extra revenue to the club. He said: "It is not on the agenda at the moment but we always keep an open mind about these things."

Wolves are currently looking into plans to redevelop Molineux and extend its capacity from 29,300 to 40,000.