HMS Ark Royal could soon become a floating gambling establishment if a bid from Hong Kong businessman Lam Kin Bong is successful. Liam has offered £5 million for aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and plans to turn it into a casino and floating restaurant.

After 25 years of service the HMS Ark Royal was taken out of service in March due to cuts in Britain's defense budget.

Lam, who resides in Birmingham, is the chairman of Hong Kong's Wing Wah Restaurant empire as well as owning various other businesses. Apart from his floating casino plans, the magnate also proposed turning the HMS Ark Royal into a floating college for language students from Asia.

It is the second time that Lam has bid for a big boat. In January, Lam tried to buy Ark Royal's sister ship, the HMS Invincible after it was decommissioned and put up for sale on a government website, but lost out to a Turkish scrap yard.

Macau's Stanley Ho has also tried in the past to build a floating casino. He tried to purchase the ex-Soviet ship Varyag, but the ship was incorporated into the PLA Navy.