ANTI-CASINO campaigners in Blackpool fear that residents are being misled over claims that the town could be granted an exclusive licence for a pilot scheme for resort casinos.

They are also concerned that the council could force compulsory purchase of hundreds of guest houses and small businesses to make way for resort casinos.

And protesters are also worried that, should gambling expansion go ahead, it will be the government, not Blackpool Borough Council, which dictates who will get casino licences and how many casinos there will be -- leading to a possible explosion of gambling venues in the town.

The warnings come in the wake of a meeting on June 11 between Blackpool Borough Council delegates and members of the House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee, which is looking at proposed gambling law changes.

Ken Coups, chairman of anti-casino group Blackpool 1st Alliance, said: "A delegation from the Alliance attended the committee hearing on June 11. Viscount John Thurso (committee member) asked what will Blackpool do if the government does not grant the resort an exclusive for a pilot scheme for resort casinos but instead asks for bids for single licences for four separate pilot schemes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

"Coun Fisher said Blackpool will make a bid. Where is his mandate for saying that? Furthermore hasn't he said publicly that the council will not be putting any money into resort casinos? Why then would the council be bidding for such a licence and who will be putting up the money for the bid?"

In addition, the group feared compulsory purchasing after it emerged in the meeting that a few sites were being looked at for resort casinos, but so far only the former Central Station site had been publicly identified.

Michael Edwards, a spokesman for the Alliance, said: "The Central Station site we all know about. The second one I'm guessing could be by the Hilton but that wouldn't really be a resort casino as such. And the third one, where?"

He said protesters feared that properties in the area behind Foxhall Square, central Blackpool, could be subject to compulsory purchase. "Unless the sites are identified now this will create a blight on the area. No-one will want to buy a guest house or business if they think it is going to be compulsorily purchased."

In addition, Steven Bate, spokesman for protest group Blackpool Coalition Against Gambling Expansion (BCAGE), said worries about the council losing control of resort gambling surfaced during the recent Commons meeting.

"From the council's point of view they want one or two big resort casinos to regenerate areas and they will control where they go.

"But the decision as to who gets a casino licence will be held by a new body, not yet in force -- the Gambling Commission. They will be able to overrule local government," Mr Bate said.

But Coun Fisher said much of the worry was through misinterpretation of what had been said at the meeting.

He confirmed the committee had asked what Blackpool would do if bids were required for single licenses in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. He said he had told the committee that Blackpool would be likely to bid for such a licence.

But he added: "The committee were not necessarily saying it would cost anything. I don't think Blackpool would put forward a monetary bid -- it's not up to us to put the money forward for a private venture."

He said fears of compulsory purchasing were completely unfounded. "There may have been other sites identified but they have been identified by the hotels themselves. The Hilton Hotel have expressed interest in having a casino. It's not necessarily council sites. We have only one particular site that we have applied for outline planning permission for. The other sites will probably be private developments."

And he said the council was not about to lose control over gambling venues. "I said there are 30 premises approximately in Blackpool that would not have to have any change in their planning use. I said I would want the legislation for planning law beefed up to make sure that we had planning controls as a council over casinos and that we prefer them to be larger type quality casinos rather than lots of small ones."