Leisure group Rank was yesterday singing the praises of liberalised gaming rules allowing it to play music and serve alcohol in its casinos.

The London group, which owns Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos across the North-East, started serving alcohol in August and expects to see a rise in sales next year.

The biggest shake-up in gambling laws since the 1960s was announced in March, which also allows different types of poker to be played.

The changes affecting 35 Grosvenor casinos have served as a further boost to a division which Rank said enjoyed "strong results" in the past four months.

But in a trading update, Rank remained cautious about its Hard Rock Cafes, which have suffered from reduced demand in the wake of the September 11 tragedy.

While like-for-like sales comparisons with a year ago have shown improvement, the company said conditions were similar to earlier in the year with a recovery in food and drink sales offsetting weaker merchandising.

In September, Rank announced that operating profits at the cafes had slipped to £14.8m in the six months to June 30 from £24m last time.

There are 105 restaurants worldwide, including six in the UK.

Rank added in yesterday's update that attendance at its 131 Mecca bingo halls had dropped as a result of cutbacks on advertising and free admission. The company said an increase in the amount spent by each customer maintained a profit margin of about 30 per cent.