Britain will miss out on billions of pounds of investment by international casino operators, following the government's u-turn on its gambling policy, analysts warned yesterday.

With ministers cutting the number of Las Vegas-style resort casinos to between one and eight, Deloitte, the professional services firm, said gaming groups would look to invest elsewhere.

"The UK will no longer be on top of the US gaming industry's investment list," said Alex Kyriakidis, head of tourism, hospitality and leisure at Deloitte.

"The US operators, many of whom have made substantial investments in land options, will channel their development dollars in other emerging jurisdictions such as Macau and Singapore."