THE twinkling lights of Blackpool illuminations shine against the backdrop of its famous ballroom tower.
Along the seafront, glittering and neon signs lure tourists into pubs, clubs and late-night arcades.
There’s little wonder the town is known as the Vegas of the north.
But scratch the surface and Blackpool’s facade soon falls away.
Behind the seafront, where attractions such as Sea Life and Madame Tussauds help bring in 21.5million visitors a year, lie abandoned shops and cafes, disused, dilapidated bed and breakfasts and burned out buildings.
The resort is bidding to become the 2029 City of Culture but has a serious problem on its hands after official figures revealed there are 1500 empty properties across the resort – among the highest for any town in the UK.
A B&B owner told us how the homeless set up tents outside one empty hotel, injecting drugs and even defecating on the steps.
One local told us: “It’s a total joke. Step away from the main drag and this place is a total mess.
“Some places have been empty for decades and in the winter it feels like there’s more homeless living in empty places than there are tourists staying in the hotels.”
When we visited Blackpool, dirty mattresses, furniture, rubbish, empty beer cans and even used syringes lay outside empty B & Bs and hotels.
Graffiti is scrawled across boarded-up doors and crumbling walls, and smashed windows are a common sight.
Many buildings have been burned out, some by bored teens, others by criminals stealing electricity for cannabis farms.
The worst street is Central Drive where Blackpool council says 30 percent of shop spaces lie empty, accompanied by decaying window frames, rotten frontages and collapsing walls.
The former Pennine Hotel has no windows at all and its inside walls are exposed, blackened by fire.
Dawn Savage and husband Steve, 60, who run the highly rated Shining Diamond B&B, have long been calling for a building next to them to be demolished while an ex-hotel adjacent to them on Havelock Street burnt down in 2024 while being used to grow cannabis plants.
Five years ago, police uncovered a £1million three-floor skunk farm at the disused Central Club in Blackpool, once a famous nightspot on the club circuit.
Dawn, 55, who enjoyed family holidays to the resort as a child, said: “We just want to make Blackpool Blackpool again.
“Despite being fenced off, we’ve seen kids playing in empty buildings and saw one aged about 13 or 14 walking across an external plank.
“It’s so dangerous.
“We also know that homeless people and drug takers stay in these places.
“We saw them set up tents outside the empty Dukeries Hotel near the Winter Gardens and some were pooping on the steps and taking drugs.
“This is a fantastic place to come on holiday and people love Blackpool but it needs improving.”
Blackpool’s business bosses claim many of the buildings are owned by consortiums and wealthy foreign investors who can afford to leave them festering until they are worth more.
Gerard Walsh, who runs the Tudor Rose hotel, said: “These investors purchase places at a low price and leave them to rot until they get an opportunity to sell them when things get better, or the area improves and they can make money.
“The council has powers to change things and put notices on owners to repair or demolish these houses but hasn’t.
“Some have been lying empty for decades.
“There’s no business rates on them because they’re not in use so everyone loses out.
“There’s been quite a lot burned out too.”
Local roofer Astrit Hamzaj, 56, said he often sees homeless people living in empty properties.
He said: “There’s so many homeless here.
“I come from a big city in Albania called Kukes where people would never dream of begging on the streets.
“It’s just horrible here.”
The town has one of the worst homeless figures in Britain with 18 per 100,000 people seeking help – compared to seven for the rest of England.
Cheap rooms have drawn people from surrounding areas while many small hotels and bed and breakfast have become houses of multiple occupation.
The town regularly ranks as the most deprived in the UK – with two fifths of the neighbourhoods steeped in poverty.
Blackpool council plans to regenerate the Central Drive area in a £90million project to knock down dilapidated buildings, create new green spaces and 230 new homes but it still leaves derelict former cafes, shops and hotels scattered across the town.
Ian White, director of StayBlackpool, which represents hospitality across the town, said the local authority must do more to tackle empty businesses across the resort as a whole.
The local authority regeneration also means slapping compulsory purchase orders on residents in nearby streets which locals claim is a “waste of money”, saying they would rather see the 300 houses refurbished than demolished.
Families in the Revoe ward, close to the beach and just off Central Drive, claim they are being driven from their homes.
Many residents have already moved out to new homes after being offered around £110,000.
But many on Rydal Avenue are refusing to take the deal.
Partially-sighted stroke victim Janet Tansey, 77, who lives with partner Laurie Whitton, 77, said: “I don’t see any problems with these houses at all.
“I’ve lived here for 44 years and brought my two children up here.
“They should refurbish these houses and spend the rest of the money doing up run-down places around the town, but that would require common sense wouldn’t it?”
The council is currently putting steel sheets over windows and doors on the streets to stop anyone getting into the houses.
Paul Kimberlin, a former carer, said: “It feels like they are pushing us out by trying to make the place look worse.
“I’ve been to look at a couple of other properties with the money they are offering but they’ve been nowhere near as sturdy as where I live.”
Blackpool council admitted the town suffered from its “fair share” of empty properties which could be a “blight on neighbourhoods” and “act as a magnet for anti-social behaviour”.
A spokesman said: “Tackling them is a high priority for us. We use a mix of enforcement action, engagement, and support to get the right results.
“Most are only vacant a short time – either while up for sale or having work done.
“Many have been empty long-term though, which can be for more complex reasons like probate being sought.
“Many of the empty commercial properties have complex, intricate title histories and have been sold multiple times without completing the required steps to register official, legal ownership.
“This hinders enforcement as identifying legal ownership becomes complex.”
They said guesthouses which are now “less popular with holidaymakers” haven’t been converted back into good-size family homes with many becoming shared houses.
They added: “Where commercial or privately-owned properties are left to stand empty and fall into disrepair, we use a combination of statutory powers at our disposal to speed up repairs or force a sale.
“We’ve developed and utilised our enforced sale policy to recover debt and move some of the worst properties on to new owners to renovate and bring them back into use.”
Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said the Central Drive plans were “about restoring the area to its heyday” saying it was the third most deprived area in the country.
She said: “This debate is often framed as demolition versus refurbishment.
“In reality, the choice is between continuing to manage decline or creating a neighbourhood with modern homes, gardens, green space, safer streets and opportunities for our people to thrive.
“Our responsibility is not only to address today’s problems but to create a better neighbourhood for future generations, and that is exactly what this programme is intended to achieve.”
She said it was “absolutely not lost” on the council that it was “talking about people’s homes” and that they had been supported throughout the process.
The town is one of nine shortlisted to become 2029’s City of Culture and visitor numbers have increased over the years with events such as the annual air show, fireworks championship, a £2.3million Gruffalo attraction and upgraded rides at the famous Pleasure Beach.
The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing has added showbiz sprinkle to the mix with its annual visit to the ballroom.
While Blackpool has extreme challenges they are still those who love the seaside atmosphere.
As one mum told us: “It might be rundown but it’s still got that magic for people who remember coming here as kids.
“You might notice the grubby stuff as an adult but kids don’t care – all they want is a bit of sunshine, a few rides, the arcades and a stick of rock.”