Manchester has been chosen as the surprise winner of the site for Britain’s first supercasino.
The Casino Advisory Panel had been told to consider the possible effect on employment and social deprivation for each of the bids.
Stephen Crow, CAP chairman, said: “The city has the greatest need in terms of multiple deprivation of all the proposals that were before us.
"Manchester has a catchment area for a casino second only to that of London, and it is an area in need of regeneration at least as much as any of the others we observed.”
The city’s bid promised high standards of social responsibility, overseen by an independent community trust.
The bid’s organisers said it would regenerate an area of east Manchester, with a £265m investment and an estimated 2,700 direct and indirect jobs created.
The casino is to be based at Sportcity in the Beswick area of Manchester, close to the City of Manchester Stadium.
The 5,000 sqft supercasino will be allowed 1,250 unlimited-jackpot slot machines.
The licence had been expected to go to the Millennium Dome. The other shortlisted cities were Blackpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle and Sheffield.
The Dome bid was the subject of controversy last year when John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, failed to declare a stay at the ranch of Philip Anschutz, owner of Anschutz Entertainment Group.
Large casino licences were granted to Great Yarmouth, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, Solihull and Southampton.
Smaller casino licences were granted to Bath and North East Somerset, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Luton, Scarborough, Swansea, Torbay and Wolverhampton.
