Floating Casino On The Way In Barrow

Local businessman wants to convert a deck of his pleasure ship into a casino.

Barrow businessman Rick Lucas is planning to bring casino gambling to the Cumbria coast.

The nightclub owner has revealed plans to covert part of his pleasure ship, the Princess Selandia, into a floating casino venue with several roulette tables, the North-West Evening Mail reports.

According to the newspaper, Mr Lucas has already been in talks with a major gambling operator about running the casino, which he believes would create about 20 new jobs.

"We have got people interested in coming here to set up the casino for us, so it is a matter of us getting all the planning permission and next you have to get a casino licence," he told the publication.

Commenting on the likely clientele for his new venture, Mr Lucas added: "There isn't a casino here. It should pull people in from the Lake District and bring a little bit of cash back into the town."

The lower deck of the Princess Selandia currently houses the Blue Lagoon nightclub.

Floating casinos are common in parts of the US such as Mississippi, where many were damaged during the rampage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.