The once-thriving seaside town now ranked one of the worst in the UK

The town, Morecambe, in Lancashire, has suffered a decades-long decline in tourism, which could be factor leading to the seaside resort being rated poorly by The Telegraph.

The outlet’s review of the town issued Morecambe with a poor score of 24/100 – despite the magnificent sweep of coastline and bay.

The resort has had its fair share of tourism failures, with Mr Blobby’s disastrous theme park costing Lancaster City Council more than £2m. In the 1990s, TV presenter, Noel Edmonds, and his production company, Unique, began looking at how they could open a Blobby-themed leisure park.

In 1994, Lancaster City Council agreed on a deal with Edmonds and Unique with councillors voting 59 to one in favour of a £300,000 investment in the scheme.

Although it was originally a success with thousands of visitors attending the park, it eventually was labelled as “poor value for money” with not enough to keep children entertained.

An Action Group opposed Blobby Land, gaining 6,000 signatures on a petition to have it scrapped and the city council decided to call time on Mr Blobby’s Morecambe home, so the leisure park closed after just 13 weeks sparking national headlines. Later on, a lengthy legal battle cost taxpayers in North Lancashire £2.6m.

It is said Morecambe’s “great days” came from the end of the 19th century through to the middle of the 20th when the railway brought in Scottish holidaymakers and working families from the wool towns of Yorkshire. By the later 1960s, though, holidaymakers wanted to explore destinations abroad and the town began fraying at the edges.

The Telegraph believes Morecambe could be “so much more than it is” and has pinned hope on the Eden Project North, which was recently awarded £50m of government funding. 

The project is being delivered by the same team behind the Eden Project in Cornwall and will combine indoor and outdoor experiences and connect people with Morecambe Bay. 

Eden Project Morecombe aims to create an environment filled with plants and art exhibits, showcasing natural abundance and the rhythms of life linked to the sun. It also hopes to be a hub for research and education programmes.

Frontierland Western Theme Park was also a popular theme park in Morecambe, Lancashire, England, which was open from 1906 to 1999. Now the local council says it wants to improve the look of the Frontierland frontage as well as enhance links to the town centre, the railway station, and the West End. 

Frontierland has been a vacant eyesore on Morecambe’s seafront since closing in the late 1990s.

The council is now asking for the public’s feedback on ways to regenerate the area. 

Councillor Phillip Black, leader of Lancaster City Council, said: “I’d urge everyone to get involved, tell us what they think about the objectives we’ve drafted, and help us to shape this important project.”

A drop-in consultation event is taking place between 10.30am and 2.30pm on Thursday, November 23 at the Festival Market to discuss ideas.