The Casino Advisory Panel (CAP) has recommended to culture secretary Tessa Jowell that Manchester be the site of the UK’s first supercasino.

The news will come as a surprise to many observers, who predicted that the race for the Las Vegas-style regional casino – which will have a 5,000sq m (53,820sq ft) gaming area and unlimited jackpot machines – was between Blackpool and the O2 in Greenwich.

Professor Stephen Crow, chair, said: “We found that Manchester’s proposal had a unique formula to offer which served to set it apart from the others in terms of the full range of our specific remitted criteria of best test of social impact, regeneration need and benefits and willingness to license.

“Manchester represents a good place to test social impact, and the council's consultations with other local authorities and relevant bodies gave us confidence on that. Manchester has a catchment area for a casino second only to that of London, and it is an area in need of regeneration at least as much as any of the others we observed – indeed, the city has the greatest need in terms of multiple deprivation of all the proposals that were before us.

“In our view, the proposal presents the most complete package in terms of meeting our remitted criteria.”

The panel also recommended that large casinos – with 1,500sq m (16,145sq ft) gaming areas – should be built in Great Yarmouth; Kingston-upon-Hull; Leeds; Middlesbrough; Milton Keynes; Newham; Solihull and Southampton while small casinos – with 750sq m (8,000sq ft) gaming areas – should be built in Bath and North East Somerset; Dumfries and Galloway; East Lindsey; Luton; Scarborough; Swansea; Torbay and Wolverhampton. Details: www.culture.gov.uk/cap