Operator News
UK – Grosvenor reopens in Bolton only to be told it must shut again
By Phil - 7 September 2020
Grosvenor Casino in Bolton, in the North West of England, was told by police that it had to shut its doors just hours after reopening amid confusion on the government’s U-turn over lockdown in the town.
The venue opened at midday on Wednesday on the assumption that the town had been released from the Greater Manchester-wide local lock-down measures with bosses saying they sought ‘urgent clarification’ on what to do.
A spokesperson for Grosvenor Casino said: “We opened our Grosvenor Casino in Bolton at noon on Wednesday in line with the government advice secured the previous Friday evening. Subsequent to having reopened, we learned of the government’s U-turn to reinforce lockdown and, having already opened our venue, we immediately contacted DCMS, via our trade body the Betting & Gaming Council, to seek urgent clarification of what the decision meant for businesses, like ours, that had already reopened. It was not until after 8pm that we received confirmation from government that our venue would have to close, and this coincided with a cordial visit from the police, to the casino, who advised us of the need to close. We complied with that instruction immediately.
“Any suggestion that we were deliberately in breach of government advice is wholly inaccurate and we went to every length to alert government to our status of having already reopened, and we sought clarity from government as swiftly as we could,” the spokesperson added. “The health and safety of our colleagues and customers is our primary concern and we strongly reject any suggestion to the contrary.”
