Great Yarmouth large casino licence to be given up

Permission was granted for Great Yarmouth to build the gambling hall in 2008 and in 2013 the boss of the Pleasure Beach won a bid to construct the £30m scheme.

But despite work on the project starting in 2017, The Edge, as it would have been called, never came to fruition.

An artist's impression of what the proposed development would have looked like (Image: Collado Collins Architects)

At a council meeting on Thursday, it was agreed to give the licence back to the Department for Media, Culture and Sport as there were currently no plans to build such an attraction.

Albert Jones, owner of the Pleasure Beach, said: "We initially applied for the licence on behalf of Great Yarmouth Council in 2008.

"But the council decided it would run a competition to win the permission.

"This pushed back the project by several years and by the time we won the licence in 2013, the operator we were working with went elsewhere and built a casino in Swansea. After that we struggled to find anyone else interested."

Albert Jones, owner of the Pleasure Beach (Image: Newsquest)

In 2017, the first stage of Mr Jones' project began, which saw the £7m Premier Inn and Beefeater restaurant built.

An eight-screen cinema, chain restaurants and an indoor play area were to follow before work started on the casino.

But aside from the hotel and restaurant, nothing else was built.

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The decision was made at Great Yarmouth town hall (Image: Newsquest)

"We spent lots of money on the project but all we ended up with was the Premier Inn.

"It is frustrating, especially with the third river crossing being built which would have brought more people in.

"We still have plans for the site but not to the scale previously."

Councillors agreed to relinquish the licence, highlighting that a large casino no longer features in the current Town Investment Plan.