GAMBLERS will have to look elsewhere to place their bets after a council pulled out of the race to build a casino.

Three months after being booted out of the running to house the country's only super casino, Dartford Council has withdrawn its application to house one of 16 smaller gaming dens.

Had the application to the Government's Casino Advisory Panel been approved, the 1,000sq m casino would have been built on land near the new Ebbsfleet Station site, owned by property developer Land Securities.

Council leader Councillor Jeremy Kite says he decided the application should be withdrawn because the development would only benefit rich casino bosses rather than the people of the borough.

He also slammed Government casino policy as a "farce" after it emerged Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott had visited the ranch of an American billionaire hoping to turn London's Millennium Dome into the UK's only super casino.

Cllr Kite said: "The legislation seems all about helping rich casino operators get richer and poses significant risks to our community's cohesion and stability.

"Dartford is a proud town and I make decisions based on what is right for our people, not on who has got friends in high places."

He added: "The bidding for casinos has turned into an undignified farce which delivers nothing of particular value for Dartford residents. I want nothing more to do with it."

But north Kent Chamber of Commerce vice president Sylvia Meade said: "Dartford has become a bit of a ghost town and I think this is a sad decision.

"It would have been nice for them to wait and hear the outcome before they made a decision."

She added: "It could have brought jobs in and extra services as a result of it which would have given companies the chance to get involved. This could have put Dartford on the map.

"Perhaps the Government's decision not to let the council go ahead with plans to redevelop Lowfield Street could have had something to do with the decision to pull out."