Casino plan canned

It looks like the plan to locate a massive casino on the waste ground next to the Stadium of Light has been canned - at least temporarily.

The £100m development was expected to create around 1,200 jobs, and developer Las Vegas Sands Inc had also planned to open other casinos in Newcastle and Middlesbrough, but it now appears that only one pilot casino is to be allowed - and that looks like being in Blackpool.

Durham North MP, Kevan Jones - part of the Commons committee scrutinising the gambling legislation which the current Labour government were trying to get through Parliament before the General Election - said the concession was sensible. "Some of this was impractical and unworkable - we need to look at what the effects are going to be by having one pilot," he said.