The Government published its controversial Gambling Bill today, giving the green light to Britain's first Las Vegas-style super-casinos and to a flood of smaller gambling venues across the country.

The new legislation, if approved by Parliament, will allow unlimited jackpots to be played for in the largest new "regional" casinos.

But it will also sweep away thousands of slot machines from other premises such as fast-food shops and minicab offices, where young people and others are thought to be at risk.

The plans have angered anti-gambling and religious groups which say that compulsive betting is already a massive problem in the UK.

But Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, said today: "This is a Bill about new protections, not new casinos. The current law leaves people vulnerable and only new legislation will fix this.

"But we also have to recognise that gambling is a popular leisure activity enjoyed by millions of people. Adults need to be treated as grown ups and allowed to choose what they do in their leisure time. That's why I believe it is right to take this opportunity to remove some of the more draconian restrictions on casinos, such as the '24 hour' rule."

The move means that casinos will no longer have to be sited in certain "permitted" areas, and will be open to the public rather than operating as 24-hour membership clubs as now.

Besides the super-sized regional casinos, there will be others designated "large" and "small", where lower prize money can be played for on slot machines. There will be 6,000 fewer premises where slot machines will be licensed.

The Bill also creates a new Gambling Commission to supervise the business and a licensing regime which takes the responsibility for approving premises away from local licensing justices.

The new commission will be required to promote "socially reponsible gambling" through licence conditions and a new code of practice.

In other moves, racecourse betting will be allowed on Good Friday and Christmas Day for the first time. And the new legislation is also aimed at regulating remote betting, for example by television or on the internet - where the operator is based in Britain.

In a statement to coincide with the Bill's publication, Ms Jowell added: "It is nearly 40 years since Parliament last had the opportunity to take a serious look at our gambling laws and it's not just attitudes that have changed since then. The technological revolution has touched all our lives and the gambling industry is no exception.

"Internet gambling and roulette machines in bookmakers are just two examples of where laws introduced nearly ten years before the first home computer hit the shelves are no longer able to protect children or vulnerable people properly.

"In the face of this, new protections are vital. Levels of problem gambling are low in Britain and I am totally committed to keeping it that way."

Critics have claimed the explosion of new casinos could lead to a rise in gambling addiction and give a green light to the big US casino groups to clean up in a deregulated British market.

An NOP poll commissioned by the Salvation Army showed that 93 per cent of the British public thought there were already enough opportunities to gamble.

"There are only two real winners that will benefit from the liberalisation of gambling laws: the gaming industry through massively increased profits, and the Government through increased taxation," a spokesman said.

"The big losers will be the vulnerable people whose lives are ruined by gambling addiction."

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