TOWN hall chiefs are preparing to fight plans for a second major casino in the heart of Bournemouth town centre.

A surprise application for the former ice rink in Westover Road has raised the prospect of the town having two casinos immediately opposite each other.

And this has horrified Conservative councillors, who were already unhappy with Trevor Osborne's plans for a casino on the Bath Road North car park next to the Pavilion.

Leader of the council Cllr Stephen MacLoughlin said they were examining all the grounds for objecting to the application and maintained: "We don't want another casino.

"Westover Road over the years has built up a reputation as a great place for shopping and entertainment.

"When the bus station development is built, the cinemas will move out and the concern is it could lose that special quality.

"To have a casino there would be good in terms of use of space, but overall we think it will cause a further deterioration in terms of Westover Road."

And Cllr Bob Chapman, cabinet member for major projects, said: "I would not welcome a casino. The council is somewhat committed to going ahead with the casino on the Bath Road site, but we certainly don't want another one."

Councillors are also concerned that the granting of a casino licence will scupper a major development opportunity at Westover Road, whose cinemas are due to close and move into a new development at Exeter Road.

Cllr Chapman added: "Once the cinemas have relocated, we will be left with three empty buildings and the opportunity to seriously rethink what we want there."

The licensing application, which is due to go before Bournemouth Magistrates Court in January, is thought to involve property owned as leaseholder by Luminar Leisure.

The leisure company already has planning permission to convert the ice rink into a series of bars and nightclubs.

Luminar declined to comment when the Daily Echo contacted the company.