The Blackpool Lead

13/10/2025

“It’s the most wonderful idea,” Claire Smith, who runs the Number One South Beach hotel and is president of Stay Blackpool told The Blackpool Lead. “They have done a great job.

“If the Illuminations are on and we have Christmas By The Sea, it gives us a really good out-of-season option.”

It has been welcomed by the businesses it aims to support - but there remains scepticism in the council opposition ranks

11/10/2025

As pop artist Olly Murs flicked the switch to launch another dazzling Lights season, he continued a tradition that - barring blackouts caused by the world wars and the Covid pandemic - dates back to 1879.

More than 20,000 people gathered on the Tower Festival Headland, opposite the Tower, to watch the free ticketed Switch-On on the last Friday night of August, with the concert also featuring The X Factor winner Louisa Johnson, rock band Toploader and local talent performing under the banner Blackpool Introduces.

Through autumn and winter, millions more will walk, drive, cycle and jog under the almost six miles of traditional festoons, tableaux and interactive features along the Promenade.

While the more than one million twinkling lights would have once been switched off again after 66 nights, they will now remain lit over the Christmas and New Year period before going dark on January 4 2026.

But what impact has the decision had? The FULL tale in tomorrow's newsletter.

11/10/2025

A shocker on Friday evening as the coastguard helicopter was forced to stand down during a rescue after being targeted by - presumably - a laser pen. Crews - many of whom are volunteers - were responding to a report that someone had been seen entering the sea close to Manchester Square at around 11pm. Another helicopter was able to stay air born. Nobody was found and the search was stood down.

Steve Fitzgerald, Blackpool RNLI Chair and Lifeboat Press Officer, said “This was a lengthy and protracted search based on the information supplied, and the deployment of Rescue 936 helicopter was deemed essential to support our Lifeboat crews. It beggars belief that anyone would want target a Search and Rescue helicopter to prevent them doing their lifesaving task, whilst also being a very real danger to the flying crew.”

09/10/2025

Blackpool’s famous tramway has won a prestigious national award after getting on track with a host of service improvements.

The changes, alongside the opening of an extension to North Station, have earned Blackpool Transport the prestigious title of Tram Operator of the Year.

The council-owned company scooped the coveted accolade at the National Transport Awards and Jane Cole, the operator’s Managing Director, says it’s an achievement the whole town, and surrounding areas, can be proud of.

She said: “Following recent service improvements, our tramway is going from strength to strength, and to win this award in the face of strong competition from much larger networks is a testament to the dedication andhe explained professionalism of the Blackpool Transport team

“We’ve come a long way together over the past 12 months, and I would like to thank everyone for their hard work and commitment as we continue to improve our award-winning tramway,”

Over the past 12 months, the operator has responded to customer feedback to develop new timetables aimed at meeting the needs of both residents and the millions of additional visitors who flock to the Fylde coast during the summer and illuminations seasons.

As a result, the tramway has seen a significant increase in customer numbers and improved operational performance.

The company says these measures are building firm foundations for future service enhancements, including a review of ticketing options, continued investment in the appearance of trams and stops, and improved connectivity with other modes of public transport.

Judges at the awards, which celebrate excellence across the transport industry, were also impressed by the operator’s in-depth analysis of travel patterns to enhance services, as well as the introduction of innovative fare offers and its introduction of the new sales team.

However, things have not always been straightforward.

The new £22million extension along Talbot Road did not please all passengers at first, with concerns over longer journeys to South Shore and the north end of the track, and some initial confusion over which trams did – and did not – call in at the new stop.

In addition, Blackpool Transport’s new Sales Team also received industry recognition when it was highly commended in the Best Customer Initiative category at the Global Light Rail Awards, which also took place in London last week.

09/10/2025

Proposals for a new pub and restaurant which were surprisingly revived last year after a gap of 18 years have now been listed as ‘withdrawn’.

In December last year, Blackpool Council received a planning application for the land adjacent to Seasiders Way, Seymour Road and Bloomfield Road for a “Lawful Development Certificate to establish whether a public house and restaurant could be lawfully erected as approved under planning permission ref. 05/0614”.

That application came nearly two decades after permission was granted – in 2006 – for the er****on of a five storey hotel and single storey public house/restaurant with associated car parking on the site.

The hotel and car parking part of the application came to fruition, with a Travelodge hotel opening in 2008 with 200 car parking spaces, currently operating on a pay and display basis.

The single storey public house/restaurant was never built, and last year’s new planning application, submitted by the Preston based company Denaxe, was seeking to confirm that it could still legally be built eighteen years later.

However, after another year of silence , the application re-appeared in Blackpool Council’s planning last week bearing the words “decision: withdrawn”, on Thursday October 2.

In the 2024 application form, the agents Cassidy + Ashton Group Ltd wrote: “This application seeks the er****on of a Public House / Restaurant on the land, associated with the extant planning permission, upon the existing hardstanding utilised as a car park.

“The access and egress points for the site will remain as existing, to and from Seymour Road, with an additional egress point towards Seasiders Way, already established at the south western corner of the wider application site.”

No reason was given for the application’s withdrawal.

09/10/2025

Ambitious plans to transform swathes of central Blackpool - one of the country’s poorest areas - are under way.

Town hall bosses have started acquiring homes, agreeing to buy 149 Central Drive at market value, and will next week decide whether they should stop re-letting authority-owned flats in Salthouse Avenue and Kent Road so they can eventually be flattened.

PLUS: Forever-chemical testing to resume on the Fylde Coast

07/10/2025

Ambitious plans to transform swathes of central Blackpool - one of the country’s poorest areas - are under way.

Town hall bosses have started acquiring homes, agreeing to buy 149 Central Drive at market value, and will next week decide whether they should stop re-letting authority-owned flats in Salthouse Avenue and Kent Road so they can eventually be flattened.

The FULL story in tomorrow's Blackpool Lead for subscribers 👇

06/10/2025

Mentally unwell patients continue to languish for days in Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s A&E department - even after the su***de of Jamie Pearson, whose 22-hour wait there sparked promises of reform.

PLUS: Why fracking entering the national politics debate is not good for Lancashire

01/10/2025

"The Carlton House Hotel and the neighbouring Allendale have been like a scar on Blackpool’s face for years."

PLUS: A £400,000 bill for a fishing trawler deemed to have accidentally cut an internet cable running from Ireland to Blackpool

29/09/2025

Blackpool’s two Reform councillors have refused to vote in a motion condemning fracking - with one leaving the room during the debate before votes were cast.

PLUS: What are the ambitious plans for Stanley Park?

24/09/2025

“Blackpool is edging closer to a tipping point.”

That was the verdict from a leading resort councillor after plans to open a £26m, four-star hotel in a prominent derelict town centre building collapsed.

Plus: Spire Fylde Coast Hospital being lined up for sale

23/09/2025

What future for the former Post Office building in Abingdon Street?

In The Blackpool Lead this week we will explore how it came to pass the Indigo Hotel scheme collapsed. The council has stepped in to buy the building.

A four-star hotel was earmarked, as part of the Indigo Hotel brand, but spiralling costs mean they have pulled out.