Demolition work starts at Ambassador Hotel on Blackpool Promenade after building is condemned

The Ambassador Hotel will be demolished after it was found to be structually unsafe.

The Promenade between Derby Road and Wilton Parade was closed on November 19 as an 'emergency measure' due to the unsafe building.

It had become a target for arsonists in recent years and the building's owner, Ged O'Mahoney, had been given planning permission in May to turn it into "prestigious" flats.

Mr O'Mahoney said: "We had to submit for an emergency demolition job and pull the building down rapidly to allow time for the Illuminations to reopen on December 2 so we're working up against the time right now.

"We've got about six cranes that have just come through the night now from Peter Marquis. We we're going to put a lot of money into Blackpool and develop the site but unfortunately now the site is coming down.

ged that the weather has played a 'massive factor' in the building becoming unsafe.

He said: "The weather ingression into the building has been obvious. Because it's such a big job, I didn't want to stop progress during lockdown so that is why I was waiting until next year for the building work to start.

"So we thought we're going to sit down and wait on the site but the weather's played a massive factor in the building. The main supporting steels in the bottom of the building have giveaway and the building, as easy as it sounds, is probably starting rapidly to collapse.

"We have been working with Blackpool Council building control who have been fantastic with the support and then the building ended up being condemned on Friday afternoon and now we've got all the machinery here and we're about to start the emergency demolition."

Now that the building is being demolished, Mr O'Mahoney said he will reconsider the site's future.

He said: "I'm obviously going to back to the local authority now and sit and discuss with them and look at putting a new build luxury accommodation scheme on the site now.

"Obviously we tried to rescue periodic features of the old building and renovate to beautiful accommodation but now we're going to look to put a new build site on which will increase the value of the area on it as well so there are positives coming out of all this.

"It's has been one of Blackpool's most problematic buildings with all the enforcements, the arson attacks and a lot of other bad stuff so some people won't be said that it has gone."