Blackpool giant backs casino result

The company behind one of Blackpool’s busiest tourist attractions has backed Manchester’s supercasino victory.

The Noble Organisation, which runs Coral Island, said their town’s bid was based on ’negative spin‘ and the head of the independent panel that picked Manchester had ‚fully justified‘ his ‚reputation for integrity‘.

In a statement the company said: „As the panel recorded, Blackpool’s bid relied on dubious assertions, unsatisfactory economic data and an exaggeratedly negative portrayal of what remains Britain’s busiest and best seaside resort.

„It reached its recommendations based on extensive evidence and their approach has been correctly sceptical of exaggerated claims made by some bidders and promoters.

„The rules under which the `game‘ was played were widely accepted throughout the process and it is inappropriate for those opposing the result to now cry foul.“

The intervention by the Noble Organisation – which attracts four million people a year to the Coral Island arcade – will prove embarrassing to Blackpool’s attempt to get Manchester’s win overturned. Some 66 MPs have signed an early day motion expressing `surprise and regret‘ that the seaside resort was not selected by the Casino Advisory Panel.