Campaign to support Coventry City's casino bid

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The Championship club launched campaign backing its bid to secure the UK's first regional casino pilot at the Ricoh Arena. The UK Government is set to announce the first pilot casinos in early 2007. A group of MPs, business organizations and community groups are behind the ‘Coventry Now’ initiative for the casino to be sited at the home of the club. The project also has the support of Coventry City Council.

Paul Fletcher, chief executive of the Ricoh Arena and spokesman for the Coventry Now campaign, said: "Coventry's bid is backed by a strong local partnership, unique because it includes a local charity focused on the regeneration of the area - the Higgs Charity. “The proposed regional casino could be entirely operational by late-2006 - years ahead of almost any other potential regional casino pilot in the country. "A regional casino at the Ricoh Arena would lead to major community and economic regeneration in Coventry, resulting in over 1,000 new jobs in a region that has suffered from major economic re-structuring over the past 20 years."