Pontin's to close Blackpool park

Pontin's will shut on 2 October

Pontin's holiday park at Blackpool is to close down next month.

A fall in visitor numbers and the amount of money needed to improve the park's facilities have prompted the decision, the holiday firm said.

A consultation is under way to see if the 74 staff based at the Lytham St Anne's park can be relocated.

About £100m is to be spent 35 miles (56km) away at the Southport Pontin's to transform it into a "holiday village", creating 250 jobs.

There has been a holiday camp on Lytham's Clifton Drive North site since the 1960s.

'Not easy decision'

The closure will coincide with the end of Pontin's two-year lease on the land, which is privately owned.

Ian Smith, chief executive of Ocean Parcs and Pontin's, said the closure is the cause of "regret and sadness".

"It was not an easy decision for the board to make," Mr Smith said.

"But the level of investment required for a short period of time, and a reduction in holiday bookings at the park, which is the reverse of the trends at our other parks, means that it is not commercially viable to continue beyond the end of the current lease."

Pontin's plans to redevelop the park at Southport with a hotel and conference centre, refurbishment of the site's lido and a new swimming and spa centre.

It is also intended that the facilities, which are subject to planning permission, would be available to the public.

Pontin's Blackpool will close on 2 October.