THE Bishop of Blackburn has called Blackpool's casino plan the "the lesser of two evils" for a town needing regeneration following a fact-finding trip to the United States.

The Rt Rev Alan Chesters visited Las Vegas and the seaside town of Biloxi to see how gaming has affected the resorts and their people.

Bishop Chesters will now present his findings to Blackpool Borough Council which is planning to introduce casinos in a bid to regenerate the town which is in the Blackburn Diocese.

He said he never placed a bet himself -- as he does not believe in gambling -- but he accepted we lived in a society that did.

And he said safety nets needed to be put in place if the proposals went ahead.

He said: "As a Christian leader I have been approached by many people for moral guidance on the proposals to regenerate Blackpool by the introduction of hotel casinos. I am keenly aware of the economic problems which cause acute social deprivation in some parts of Blackpool.

"However, I had no personal knowledge of the social and moral effects which large hotel casinos would bring in their wake."

Accompanied by Father Graham Rainford, area dean for Blackpool, Bishop Chesters took in Las Vegas and Biloxi Bay in Mississippi on the four-day trip, speaking to various agencies involved in the gaming industry.

And he found it to be of great benefit to the resorts. He said: "What I discovered was that casinos do bring economic regeneration to deprived areas. In Mississippi, for example, unemployment had fallen from one in four to one in 20.

"The issue is what is the lesser of two evils, poverty and social deprivation or people gaming? The hotels themselves are wonderful with fantastic restaurants. They recreate places like Venice and Rome and are not tatty at all."

When asked if casinos should come to Blackpool, he said: "I am not going to answer that. That's for others to decide."

He said: "If Blackpool is going to do this we need to be very, very sure that we have in place safety mechanisms for those whose lives are affected badly by gaming.

"I will insist to the powers that be that a substantial amount of the profits are put back into the community. The regeneration needs to be about more than just the facilities."