Blackpool's deckchairs set for promenade comeback

The new pitch would be near Central Pier where there was formerly one of Blackpool's 14 pitches

Deckchairs could be set to make a return to Blackpool Promenade seven years after council bosses abandoned the seaside tradition.

Blackpool Council sold its 6,000 deckchairs in 2014 but is offering space for a new chair operator.

The successful firm will be given two pitches on the promenade, just north of Central Pier.

Claire Smith, president of hoteliers group StayBlackpool, said she would be delighted to see deckchairs return.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "I can't think of anything nicer then sitting in a deckchair watching the world go by on a sunny day.

"There are days when the sun is out but the tide is in so you can't go on the beach. So having deckchairs on the prom is ideal.

"We have seen beach huts have a resurgence and I think deckchairs could be the same."

Deckchairs were synonymous with Blackpool in its heyday

The deadline for operators to submit applications is due imminently and it is hoped the scheme will start before July with a licence granted until November, and a chance to repeat the offer between April and November in 2022.

Deckchairs would be available to hire seven days a week between 08:00 and 20:00 BST.

Conditions will include having an attendant in place and keeping the area clean and compliant with any active coronavirus restrictions.

When the council sold off its stock it said they had not been used for three years, with holidaymakers preferring to sit on benches built into the remodelled seafront.

The chairs were sold to Cheshire company Deckchairstripes, which hired them out elsewhere.

Photographs from Blackpool's heyday in the 1950s and 1960s show thousands of visitors packed onto the beach on deckchairs.

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