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The city of Manchester has been chosen as the first choice to play host to Britain's first Las Vegas-style supercasino.

In a shock decision, the Casino Advisory Panel (CAP) awarded preferential status to Manchester from an initial shortlist of seven after it met the panel's "full range of requirements".

Blackpool had been widely tipped to get the nod, with the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) yesterday naming the city as the most likely winner, while Greenwich's Millennium Dome – renamed the O2 – was seen as its closest contender.

But in its final recommendations to culture secretary Tessa Jowell, the panel said that Manchester's bid was one of "compelling strengths".

CAP chairman Stephen Crow said that the city's proposal had succeeded in combining "great promise" and a "unique formula".

Mr Crow elaborated that ultimately Manchester had done more to convince the panel over the social impact of the project and the area's need for regeneration. He also indicated that the city's catchment area for a casino was second only to London.

Ms Jowell will put the panel's recommendations before parliament next month, with a Commons vote set to confirm Manchester as the location for the supercasino.

The city's council has already indicated that it plans to build the 5,000-square metre casino, which will contain up to 1,250 unlimited-jackpot gaming machines, in the Eastlands area, near the City of Manchester Stadium.

The CAP also approved plans to build large casinos in Great Yarmouth, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, Solihull and Southampton; as well as smaller casinos in Bath and North East Somerset, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Luton, Scarborough, Swansea, Torbay and Wolverhampton.