Mr Caborn was visiting the jurisdiction after expressing an interest in seeing how Gibraltar operates in its role as a leading global jurisdiction for online gambling.

The visit also gave the Gibraltar government and industry players the opportunity to continue their lobby of the UK and other governments in relation to on-line gambling access to their markets.

During the visit, Chief Minister Peter Caruana and Mr Caborn visited the facilities of 888.com, and were hosted to lunch there by 888.com CEO, John Anderson, before meeting with senior local industry figures.

The United Kingdom is currently in the midst of a major reform of gambling legislation after the passing of the Gambling Act 2005 last year. The new legislation is set to go into effect in September 2007, although doubts remain over the new tax regime that will be applied when it comes into force.

Betting firms such as Victor Chandler decamped from the UK to jurisdictions such as Gibraltar to take advantage of the more favourable tax conditions offshore.

In an interview with the Financial Times last year, Peter Dean, chairman of the Gambling Commission, stated that it was the government's "expectation" that gambling firms would seek to set up in the UK under the Gambling Act 2005.

However, he cautioned that gambling firms would snub the UK if the new tax regime is regarded as being too punitive.