SOUTHAMPTON'S top politician is seeking an urgent meeting with developers to try and plot the city's next move over the threatened West Quay Stage 3 development.

City council leader Adrian Vinson, pictured, told the Daily Echo that he would be trying to meet with developers Bravo and US firm Ameristar following news that Southampton had lost its bid to build a super-casino in the city.

Earlier this week, plans for a multi-million-pound indoor arena and casino complex in Southampton were thrown into disarray after the government was forced to water down its Gambling Bill to get it through Parliament before the general election.

Fears were raised that the move could deal a fatal blow to the whole project, as the massive gaming centre would have helped pay for the proposed 10,000-seat arena housing an Olympic-sized ice rink.

Now city bosses will be forced back to the drawing board to see how they can get the £250m scheme off the ground.

Cllr Vinson told the Daily Echo that the government's decision represented "an unwelcome complication", but he was confident that the scheme would still go ahead.

He added that although the city had lost out on a super-casino, the arena could still be paid for by the council bidding for one of the 16 smaller casinos allowed under the Bill.

He said: "We want to talk to Ameristar and Bravo about how the project can be delivered in the context of the scale of a casino licence that we are in a position to bid for. There is a 'Plan B', though from a council point of view I can't say anything that will commit Ameristar and Bravo in any way."

Bravo said it would still be going ahead drawing up the plans for the arena. Ameristar were unavailable for comment.