THE company that owns Worcester Racecourse is in talks to buy the state-owned bookmaker Tote.

Arena Leisure, which organises more than a quarter of the UK's horse races, said it was part of the consortium which held preliminary discussions with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport over a possible bid for the Tote.

It said no terms had been agreed, although some reports at the weekend suggested the group was offering less than the £400m the Government had been looking for.

As well as stock-market listed Arena, the consortium includes Racecourse Holdings Trust - the arm of the Jockey Club that owns Aintree and Cheltenham - and the Racecourse Owners Association.

Labour made a manifesto pledge before the last General Election to sell the Tote, which relocated from Putney to Wigan last year and has 540 betting shops, to the racing industry.

Failure of the consortium to meet this price tag has fuelled speculation that the Government could open up the sale to other bidders.

Tote operating profits fell 3.3 per cent to £23.4m last year but turn-over grew 16.9 per cent to £2.21bn.