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Final game at £4m bingo hall
Preston's flagship £4.1m bingo hall will close its doors for the final time on Sunday.
Buckingham Bingo, in New Hall Lane, is to shut after just two years of trading.
Company bosses say the closure comes because the club is no longer financially viable.
Fourteen of the 27 full and part-time staff at the centre will lose their jobs, with the remaining 13 redeployed at other sites, including the branch in Tithebarn Street.
Chief executive Andy Cunningham said: "Following a consultation period with the 27 full and part-time members of staff at our New Hall Lane site in Preston, we can confirm that the club will close on March 29.
"The closure of the New Hall Lane site will help secure the future of our other 11 clubs which are currently trading ahead of forecast."
The club, at Gateway Park, was opened in a blaze of publicity in March 2007 by former Coronation Street actress Wendi Peters.
It boasted a capacity of up to 1,000 and had 12,000 members on its books.
In September 2007, bingo caller Allen Musa was named the North West's Caller of the Year.
Some staff had moved to New Hall Lane from other clubs, including Tithebarn Street.
The branch in Preston city centre was the first in the chain to open.
The company, which has branches all over the North West, was sold by Bolton businessman Panico Panayi to the private equity group Alchemy in 2005 for 90m.
But the chain reported annual losses of 88.7m.
Mr Cunningham added: "Tithebarn Street continues to trade well and means our customers can still enjoy playing Buckingham Bingo in Preston.
"We have no plans to close any other Buckingham sites."
>>Eyes down for new bingo hall
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Weather for Preston
Thursday 09 February 2012
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