Bermuda will get its first casino in 2021, the Premier has pledged.

David Burt said the island’s banks had been the only block to the gambling industry – for more than six years after the legislation was approved.

But he added that problems had been overcome and that the industry could get off the ground.

Mr Burt said: “Yes. I would hope so, without question.”

He added: “I am expecting certainly that we’ll have a casino, at least one casino, operating in Bermuda this year and we’ll continue to work on that.

“But it has not been easy. If it would have been easy, we would not be sitting here in 2021, about seven years after the former Government passed the Casino Gaming Act, without a casino in the country.”