THOUSANDS of local people will know first-hand exactly what Blackpool would have to live up to as a Northern Las Vegas. But for those who have never visited the famous desert gambling resort, BEN deputy editor Ian Savage -- a self-confessed US fan -- offers a personal view IT'S all very well having grand ideas to turn the country's most famous holiday resort into Vegas-on-Sea, but the big question is not whether it can be done, but whether it can be done properly.

Because, I'm sorry to shatter some widely held beliefs, but Las Vegas, Nevada, is not only miles away geographically, as a tourist destination it's miles ahead of Blackpool.

Contrary to the rumours, spread by people who have never been, Vegas is not Blackpool with 100 degree temperatures.

Thirty years ago, there may have been some justification in branding the neon desert oasis as purely a gambler's paradise. Then the casinos were firmly in the grip of the Mob and families tended to avoid a trip there, favouring Disneyland, a couple of hundred miles East in California.

Not any more.

In the last 10 years, Vegas has been transformed into a family-friendly fantasy land. Not everyone's cup of iced tea, granted, but as an experience, it is like no other on the planet.

The old hotels like the Sands have been demolished to make way for multi million dollar themed casino/hotel/resorts, which simply have to be seen to be believed.

All the latest hotels are so big that it would take a whole night just to see around one.

And they all have their own identity. Paris is one of the newest, a $780,000,000 mini ecapsulation of the French capital, including an amazing scaled down replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Other eye-popping sights include The Venetian, a large piece of Venice (complete with canals and gondolas, inside); The Excalibur, a fairytale castle inspired by the tales of King Arthur (complete with serving wenches and Merlin magic show nightly); Luxor, a massive smoked glass pyramid (complete with replica obelisks, Sphinx and a beam of light that pierces outer space, shooting from the tip of the structure) and The New York, New York, a slice of the Big Apple plonked into the middle of Vegas (complete with a hotel comprising a third scale replica of the Manhattan skyline and a rollercoaster running around the outside of the building).

These are just some of the hotels. Caesar's Palace, venue for world class boxing matches, is still as popular -- and opulent -- as it ever was, but now has a superb shopping arcade (walk round it and it's clear where the inspiration for the less impressive Trafford Centre came from).

And billion dollar The Bellagio has its own multi million dollar art gallery, packed with original paintings from the likes of Monet and Renoir.

Vegas, which sprang up in the hot Nevada desert in the 1950s when gangster Bugsy Siegel saw the potential for a lucrative gambling business, IS over the top.

Stories abound of venues like the famous Little White Chapel where you can married in minutes, as an Elvis impersonator sings Love Me Tender in the background.

Just a couple of minutes away is a business selling "quickie divorces" just in case the magic of getting married in the shadow of a fake "King" has worn off and you are already fed up with your new spouse Tacky, however, Las Vegas is not.

It is, in common with most tourist cities in the States, kept scrupulously clean, the six mile long Vegas Strip which is home to the majority of the most famous casinos, are refurbished regularly and at night, although the neon gives the city a strange "daylight" effect, the palm trees, fountains, manmade waterways and lakes combine to give a touch of class, not crass. And it is here where the difference between Vegas and Blackpool is so pronounced. It is all very well smart businessmen with an eye for millions of pounds of gambled away cash getting excited, but they should think about cleaning up Blackpool before building on it.

Over the past 20 years, the Lancashire resort has undoubtedly enjoyed a tourist boom.

But unfortunately it does not appear to have had enjoyed a commensurate level of cash spent on making it look like a world class destination.

Peeling paint, dirty sea and beaches, tired looking illuminations and mobs of rowdy teens (and often older people who should know far better) have turned Blackpool into something of a turn-off.

The concept of bringing the resort into the 21st century with new, amazing casino resort hotels, aimed at catering for the family market as well as gamblers, is long overdue.

But it needs to be a well co-ordinated strategy that affects the whole of the business from the North Pier, right down to the Pleasure Beach. Planners must ensure that existing arcades, chip shops, gift shops and pubs spruce themselves up and any new hotels -- with Vegas in mind -- are welcome to be OTT, but should stay well away from sliding into tacky territory.

And recently Blackpool has become less synonymous with old-fashioned family fun and more renowned as a Stag and Hen party venue.

I'm not saying there isn't a place for boozy parties at the resort, but I know people who are now put off from going there because of the spectre of aled-up lads and lasses spouting obscenities - even before it's begun to get dark.

If this latest plan does go ahead and six new Vegas style hotels spring up along the seafront, good old Blackpool could, in the not too distant future, be more famous for casino chips than the traditional fish 'n' chips.

That will be no bad thing; as long as everyone involved in the ambitious scheme bears this simple thought in mind. Do it right, or don't bother at all.