All sails taken off storm damaged Blackpool Grade ll listed windmill

The windmill has been cordoned off after the sails were damaged

The remaining three sails have been removed from a listed windmill which lost one in high winds.

The Grade-II listed landmark on Preston New Road in Blackpool lost the sail on 7 April, Good Friday.

Blackpool Council said the sails would be assessed, repaired and then reinstated.

The mill - considered part of the gateway to Blackpool - was cordoned off as it was feared further debris could fall from the structure.

The council said removing the sails would "give us an opportunity to assess them thoroughly from the ground before making necessary repairs," the The Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"Once this work is complete they will all be reinstated," it added.

Wesham-based specialist joiner Joe Gillett, who last year made four new sails for Lytham Windmill, is also working on Little Marton.

He said: "The sails are going to a Blackpool Council depot to be looked at and then we'll be happy to do what is required to ensure this great landmark looks its best."

The sail was found on the ground on Good Friday

Shirley Matthews, of the Friends of Little Marton Windmill, said: "It's sad to see the windmill without its sails, but the work must be done and it means the sails can be given a full overhaul.

"It also means we should be able to get back inside the building and continue to hold our community events."

Lytham Windmill was hit by a storm in October 2021 and also had to have its sails replaced

The damaged sail was found on the ground early on Good Friday and parts of a second sail started to come loose in the wind later.

The windmill was built in 1838 and was in use until the 1920s.

It was externally renovated in 1968 and listed in 1983.

It is one of four surviving windmills in the Blackpool area, two in Thornton and Lytham, while a third in Kirkham has been converted into a house.