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Pub giants pull plug on £1.4m Blackpool site
PUB giant J D Wetherspoon has confirmed it is pulling the plug on a proposed £1.4m development in Blackpool.
The chain secured planning permission in 2006 for the scheme to open a new bar and restaurant on Market Street in the town centre.
But since the previous buildings were demolished, no work has taken place.
Wetherspoons has now put the land up for sale.
In the meantime town hall planners are taking action against the company, claiming the site has become derelict.
They have ordered Wetherspoons to stop using the land, which borders the town centre conservation area, as a car park and for the storage of rubbish bins.
A report says: "The land has been left in a derelict state, mostly surrounded by two metre temporary fencing and an exposed gable to the side of 13 to 15 Market Street, left following the demolition of the former buildings on the site."
The company has been given a month to secure the site and stop using it as a car park and refuse store.
Wetherspoons' spokesman Eddie Gershon said they were not yet aware of the enforcement action, but would deal with any issues the council had with the land.
He added: "We are marketing the land for sale, a decision which has been taken for commercial reasons.
"We are still looking for more sites in Blackpool. But Market Street is not going to progress.
"No deal has been agreed for our other town centre site in Bank Hey Street but that is still ongoing."
The 1.4m scheme earmarked for Market Street was granted a drinks licence in August 2006 and won planning permission in November the same year.
The two-storey block was expected to open under Wetherspoons more upmarket Lloyds No 1 brand with a capacity for up to 1,000 people.
Five commercial units including Executive Lighting, Studio 19 and the China House restaurant in Market Street, and a vacant gift shop and cafe on West Street, were demolished to make way for the redevelopment.
Executive Lighting had been in Market Street for 41 years.
Wetherspoons was granted a drinks licence for premises within the former Pricebusters building on Bank Hey Street in May 2008 but those premises have also never opened.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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