A CONTRACT signed on the eve of polling day has committed Bournemouth to a town centre casino or the prospect of paying millions to get out of it.

The final contract between Bournemouth Borough Council and Trevor Osborne Property Group for the controversial casino development was signed on Wednesday, the day before electors voted to depose the Liberal Democrat administration.

Former deputy leader of the council Adrian Fudge told the Daily Echo: "It would cost the council multi-millions to get out of the contract now."

Some sources say the figure could be as high as £6 million.

The council has also signed one of the two contracts necessary for a new arts venue on the site of the Winter Gardens.

Newly-elected council leader Conservative Stephen MacLoughlin said he still wanted to halt the casino but "the costs would probably be prohibitive". He added: "We're going to have to make the best of a bad job."

He said: "For them to have rushed through the signing of that contract the day before the election is outrageous. It's scandals".

Cllr MacLoughlin spent his first day as leader finding out exactly what contractual obligations the council had entered into with the developers and whether it was possible to put a stop to the process.

He said he still hoped to prevent the development of the arts and education centre in the Winter Gardens.

He said: "To use a prime town centre site for student accommodation is poor planning. The arts hall represents very poor value for money which was only proposed to cover the Liberal Democrat's embarrassment for reneging on their promise to save the Winter Gardens."

He said he would like the Winter Gardens site to be used for an all weather family attraction.

He said that ideally, the council would swap some of the Winter Gardens site with the new owners of the Imax building, enabling the council to demolish the hated building.

Cllr MacLoughlin also pledged to continue with the restoration of the Pavilion, which he claimed would be possible even without the casino development, using some of the money saved from the Winter Gardens.