GOVERNMENT ministers will today focus on rescue plans for 17 new casinos after a shock defeat in the House of Lords last night.

The plans were thrown into disarray after peers rejected Labour's Gambling Order regulations by 123 votes to 120.

The result meant that a Commons vote backing the Government plans by 274 to 250 counted for nothing.

Richard Caborn, the Minister for Gambling, said: "We will have to reflect on that now as to whether we go forward or, indeed, how we go forward if we make that decision."

Glasgow had been shortlisted as a venue for a planned supercasino but in a shock move two months ago the selection panel chose Manchester.

Last night's vote is a blow for the English city which had seen the supercasino as the key to the regeneration of a poor area.

The vote will also be a personal humiliation for Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell who took the high-risk strategy of requiring both the Commons and the Lords to vote on the complete package.