A city centre gambling shop has asked for permission from the council to open until 6am.

Merkur Slots in The Cross, Worcester, has revealed it wants to extend its opening hours and has made a request to Worcester City Council to open until 6am every day.

The casino chain had its request to open 24 hours a day turned down by the council almost a year ago.

Merkur said its gambling shop in The Cross had now been open for 18 months without any complaints and had been staying open until 2am for the last six months, also without any complaints.

A statement included with the application said: “Merkur Slots typically operate 24 hours and where they do not operate 24 hours, they usually operate until the early hours. A 2am closing time is a very early closing time for a leisure use that relies on evening and night-time trade.”

Worcester News:

As they did a year ago, bosses at Merkur Slots called on the city council to “show a level of consistency” in its decision-making after agreeing for neighbouring gambling outlets to open longer.

Last year, Shipley Amusement Centre moved from the former Scala Theatre in Angel Place around the corner to Broad Street in the building formerly occupied by BrightHouse, and was given permission by the city council to open 24 hours a day – a privilege which Merkur Slots say should also be extended to its venue.

Based on the advice of West Mercia Police, the city council granted Merkur Slots, then known as Cashino, a licence for the adult amusement centre in The Cross but restricted opening hours to 9am to midnight despite a request to open all day and night.

West Mercia Police was against the 24/7 plan from the start but said it was willing to ‘trial’ a 2am cut-off so officers could keep on an eye on the situation and review it in the future.

Planning officers at Worcester City Council said the fears from police were “rational and reasonable” but it was willing to accept the gambling shop closing at 2am instead of midnight.