Playboy set for UK return?

London, July 13 : Playboy bunnies may return to London for the first time since the swinging sixties, if Hugh Hefner decides to re-open the Playboy Club in the capital.

Hefner's Playboy entertainment empire, which was built on the American magazine with its famous Playmate centrefolds, is considering at least two sites in central London.

The club could re-open in 2010 to offer gaming at roulette wheels and blackjack tables.

Guests will dine on everything from hamburgers to haute cuisine and dance to music played by leading European DJs.

The original Playboy club on Park Lane in Mayfair was closed 27 years ago after a police raid over suspected gambling irregularities, despite no subsequent evidence of wrongdoing. Its satellite clubs in Manchester and Portsmouth also closed.

"We are looking for opportunities around the world. London will be logical for us. We had some very good years there," Times Online quoted Dick Rosenzweig, executive vice-president of Playboy and Hefner's right-hand man, as saying.

The most likely British site is the Sports Cafe on Haymarket in London's West End, which showed sporting events on giant screens for more than a decade.

Playboy has reportedly signed an agreement with Agilo, the London hedge fund that owns the cafe. The company will then seek a gaming premises licence from Westminster council.

Although the government has its own plans for a new network of casinos, the Playboy application will go through under existing rules.

Playboy could win its licence in as little as two months after applying if it meets all the requirements.

ANI