A £300m tourist attraction in east Manchester could create more jobs than the doomed supercasino, town hall chiefs claim.

Manchester council is to invite bids to develop the site of the planned casino - scrapped by Gordon Brown earlier this year - in a move which could bring in £500m a year for the local economy.

Council leader Sir Richard Leese said it was `quite possible' the resulting jobs would outnumber the 2,700-3,500 that would have come with the gambling mecca.

The council's ruling executive confirmed the move today and said it would let bidders come forward with detailed proposals for the site.

Ideas previously put forward include everything from a `world class' BMX track to a white-water rafting centre.

Council chiefs originally warned it could take legal action against the government for scrapping the supercasino - which would have been the first in Britain. They dropped that threat after a ministerial group was set up to look at alternatives for the site.

Town hall officers are already working with the English Institute of Sport to draw up plans for an elite athlete training centre and `House of Sport' that could attract other organisations.

There could also be a `mini-village' on the site where the athletes would live.

The council looked at a range of options for the area where the casino would have been built. New housing, shops, industrial or office units were all considered but rejected.

Target

Coun Leese said: "The ministerial working party has set itself a target of creating as many jobs (on the site) as the casino would have produced.

"It is quite possible the proposals that will come back will have a job total in excess of that."

Simon Ashley, leader of the opposition Lib Dem group, demanded a firm commitment from the government that the total number of jobs created would exceed 3,500.

He said that if a tourist attraction would create as many jobs as a supercasino, the council would simply have built one in the first place.

He said: "We have no timescale for these `jobs' and we have given up the threat of legal action - the only card we had."

Eddie Smith, chief executive of regeneration body New East Manchester, said: "It is the typical Manchester way - we aim high and we usually succeed.

"I'm fairly confident there are ideas out there and there are companies out there who want to come and invest in Manchester."

Sportcity is already home to several sporting sites including the City of Manchester Stadium, home of Premiership club Manchester City, the Velodrome and the English Institute of Sport.

A project team will be established next month with shortlisted bidders and their proposals expected to be chosen by January next year.