GLAMOROUS Las Vegas-style showgirls dancing on stage will welcome select guests to the opening of the £7 million Opera House Casino in Scarborough on Wednesday.

The development is the single largest leisure investment in Scarborough for more than 30 years, and will create more than 110 full-time jobs, including croupiers, catering managers and a range of hospitality staff. Guests at the glittering event will tour the stylish venue which took three years to complete. It features 11 gaming tables, 20 electronic gaming terminals and 20 Las Vegas-style slot machines, as well as three bars and an a la carte restaurant all over two floors.

Already more than 5,000 people have become members of the luxury casino, which was the brainchild of Scarborough entrepreneur Nickolas Shaw. With his wife and fellow director, Rebecca, he bought the former dilapidated Opera House in St Thomas Street to build the casino.

Mr Shaw predicts that his casino - one of only eight privately-operated in the UK - will generate 95 per cent of its trade from locals and regular customers within a 50-mile radius of the seaside resort.

Updated: 10:27 Thursday, October 20, 2005