London (Reuters) - The government said on Wednesday it would not go ahead with the planned sale of state-owned bookmaker, the Tote, this autumn due to market conditions. "I have now concluded that it is not appropriate to pursue a sale in these market conditions. I have therefore decided that the Tote should be retained in public ownership for the medium term, and brought to the market when conditions are likely to deliver value for the taxpayer and racing,"...

The Tote, the state-owned bookmaker soon to be privatised, has seen the amount it won from punters rise by over 5%, mainly thanks to controversial touch-screen roulette machines in the group's 540 betting shops. In a surprise move, the bookmaker omitted to say how much gross profit it made from the [[GBP]] 500 jackpot machines, as it has done in the last two years' annual reports to parliament.

The Government is likely to abandon a clampdown on problem gambling in a desperate attempt to find bidders for its Tote betting business. A study for the Government into highstakes gambling machines is being put on the back burner to avoid frightening off potential bidders.

A government spokesman said an investment bank would be installed as advisor on the sale in the next two weeks and would be asked to come up with a shortlist of the most lucrative options. After years of deliberation, promises to the horse racing industry and a number of failed sale attempts, the government finally kick started an open auction of the Tote earlier this month. It now has three main options: selling the entire business, a piece-by-piece breakup or holding on to it until credit markets improve.

Britain's bookmakers have warned they will mount a legal challenge against any decision by the Government to sell the Tote to the racing industry "on the cheap". The racing consortium, which includes Tote management and staff, the Racecourse Association and the Racehorse Owners Association, slashed its latest bid for the bookmaker last week from GBP 400m to GBP 320m, citing jittery credit markets.