THE US company pushing to transform the Millennium Dome into Britain's only super-casino has apologised for wrongly claiming local religious leaders backed their bid.

The Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the London venue, claimed in a document posted on a government website that the Greenwich Peninsula Chaplaincy - which represents Christian, Muslim and Sikh faiths - was broadly positive towards the casino plan.

But the Rev Malcolm Torry said in a leaked email exchange that much of the published document "had been simply made up".

"I'd be perfectly happy for genuine correspondence to be published - but there hasn't been any, and the paper on the Culture Dept. website looks like a letter from me and it isn't one," Rev Torry said in the leaked email posted on Iain Dales' political blog.

"Much of the document has been simply made up and it has a tone which is positive towards the casino plan whereas the paper which our trustees put out is negative.

"Members of religious groups in the borough will be understandably concerned that it looks as if a body on which they are represented has misrepresented them."

The document says the Chaplaincy "welcome the creation of over 4,600 new jobs" and "they recognise the right of people to gamble in a free country."

But the Church of England clergyman said there were some respects in which the summary was incorrect.

"For instance, some of the new jobs, because of their content, are not in fact welcomed by some faith communities, so we have not stated that we welcome them," he wrote.

AEG European CEO David Campbell offered an apology to the Chaplaincy.

"I cannot excuse the fact that this summary should have been cleared with you. I don't know how this happened but it is a mistake and as CEO I am ultimately responsible and so apologise unreservedly to you and your colleagues," Mr Campbell wrote.

The latest crisis follows controversy over the deputy prime minister John Prescott's stay at the US ranch of Dome owner Philip Anschutz.

However, the Greenwich venue currently leads the race to win the country's only super-casino licence, which allows up to 1,250 jackpot slot machines.

The Casino Advisory Panel will tomorrow hold a public hearing into the AEG/Greenwich bid for the Las Vegas-style casino.

Wembley's bid to host the super-casino was last week scrapped after Brent Council withdrew its support.

A "social study" commissioned by the council into the likely impact of the casino found that it would lead to a rise in crime. It also found that community health, transport and the environment would suffer.

A final decision will be made by the government in October.