SUPER casinos would lead to fewer problem gamblers, according to a Greater Manchester expert on gambling.

Prof Peter Collins attacked the "whipping up of hysteria" over their introduction.

Prof Collins, director of Salford University's Centre for the Study of Gambling, has studied casinos around the world and said any new one will be required by law to invest in public awareness campaigns to reduce problem gambling.

Manchester council and development company New East Manchester are lobbying the government for a licence to build a super casino at Sportcity, near City's ground, which could create 2,700 jobs.

Evidence

Prof Collins said: "There is evidence from around the world suggesting that building a super casino and investing in public education actually reduces the number of problem gamblers.

"Money that would have been spent in them will only be spent on gambling or drink anyway. A bigger danger is the popularity of internet gambling, which is difficult to regulate and it is difficult to know the scale of the problem."

He based his comments, made to the Parliamentary Seminar on Gambling, on 20 years of research from around the world, which showed that anti-gambling advertising and super casinos worked to reduce the total amount spent on betting.

"This is not a hard science, only what the evidence suggests," he said.

Unconvinced

Manchester council leader Richard Leese backed the city's bid for a é265 million casino. He said: "If there is to be one pilot regional casino scheme it must be in Manchester."

But the Tories remain unconvinced by the arguments in favour of a network of casinos across the country.

In a letter to MPs, Hugo Swire, shadow Culture Secretary, said: "We will be reaffirming our commitment to oppose any increases in the number of regional casinos until the pilot project has been properly and thoroughly assessed."

DO you support the idea of Super casinos coming to the north-west? Have your say.