A NEW £6million casino is expected to bring jobs, glitz and glamour to Southend seafront when it opens in September.

The 24-hour Grosvenor Casino is due to open below the Park Inn Palace Hotel on September 18.

Traders have welcomed the fact it will bring much-needed investment to the seafront and create more than 100 jobs Tom Docherty, the casino’s general manager, said: “Southend is a popular seaside town with a long-established association with entertainment and innovation, making it ideal.

“We’re confident our new casino will attract new and existing gamers into Southend, with its state-of-the-art facilities, and further increase interest in the area as a key tourist destination.

“It will be a stylish new venue, where you can enjoy the thrill of gaming and live sports around the clock, and also support employment in the area.”

He added the casino would be “a new and exciting venue, perfect for serious gamers or those just looking for a fun, alternative night out.”

It will have a 100-seat poker room available for private functions and tuition, plus slot machines, electronic gaming and a VIP room for high-stakes games.

It will also have a restaurant and bar and a separate sports lounge with betting terminals, showing Premier League football, rugby, cricket, boxing and motor racing.

Mr Docherty added: “We’re hugely excited about our sports lounge and sports betting facilities, as this will be only the second Grosvenor Casino in the UK to have such facilities.”

Paul Thompson, chairman of Southend Seafront Traders’ Association, said he hoped the appeal of the casino would also be boosted by a new multiplex cinema on the Seaway Car Park.

He added: “It will be good. It’s more investment in the seafront and investment in Southend, which is good news.

“Once we get it going, and if the cinema gets up and running, things will be looking good for Southend seafront again.

“It will give people staying in the hotels something to do in the evenings.

"Everything is on the up.”