Fruit machine prizes to hit £1m

FRUIT machine operators are to be given the chance to offer £1m jackpots. The current £2,000 prize limit will be swept away in reforms of the gambling laws to be unveiled today.

The changes will open the way for giant casinos on the Las Vegas pattern, with banks of highly-profitable gaming machines.

Operators will be able to link all the machines in a casino to allow giant prizes in the biggest gambling halls.

The easing of gambling restrictions parallels Government plans to revolutionise drinking laws by allowing pubs and clubs to open 24 hours a day.

Home Office ministers are also considering sex law changes that could allow 'tolerance zones' in big cities where prostitution would be effectively legal.

Critic say the changes carry risks to public order and to vulnerable individuals.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell will open the way for high-jackpot slot machines today with a reply to the MPs and peers who warned her that reforms would lead to a surge in gambling addiction.

The Parliamentary committee which scrutinised her Gambling Bill said big casinos should open only in areas of high unemployment, where developers should provide leisure and cultural facilites to boost local economies.

Casinos should have no more than 1,000 big-payout fruit machines and slot machines should be barred from non-gambling locations like fish-and-chip shops or minicab offices.

The Culture Secretary has accepted limits on the numbers of machines that big casinos will be able to run - she is thought likely to set the limit at 1,250. But she will let operators link their machines together inside casinos, giving them the chance to offer enormous rollover prizes.

The number of slot machines will be linked to the number of tables offering games like roulette or poker, so small casinos will not be able to pack in so many machines.

The reforms will permit big new casinos and US operators are queuing up to take advantage after legislation is brought in this autumn. Big gaming firms have plans for casinos with 1,000 high-jackpot slot machines in Manchester, Salford, Liverpool and Sheffield. But limits on smaller casinos will stop the spread of gambling halls to every High Street.

Ministers are concerned about the possible effects of allowing casinos in every neighbourhood.

Critics warn that the introduction of big jackpot machines - which provide the bulk of the profits for US casino firms - threatens an increase in gambling problems.

Jonathan Lomax of the Salvation Army said: 'We are very concerned about the introduction of these machines. On all the evidence they are one of the most addictive forms of gambling. If you are going to introduce them you should do it gradually so you can measure the impact they have.'

He added: 'We would be very concerned if it appeared these machines were having a disproportionate effect on the most vulnerable and the poorest.'

A leaked Government memo showed yesterday that Miss Jowell considers the fears of her critics 'understandable' because 'in other parts of the world, gambling reform has been followed by an unwelcome intrusion of new gambling opportunities into normal social spaces'. But she considers the concern 'exaggerated'.

Ministers believe that loosening gambling laws - currently anyone who wants to play in a casino needs to sign up for membership at least 24 hours in advance - will bring an investment bonanza and more than 100,000 new jobs.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport declined to comment in advance of today's announcement.