Protest against soaring cost of living planned outside Conservative Party conference in Blackpool

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said it expected thousands of people from across the UK to join the protest in Blackpool on March 19, under the slogan: "Britain needs a pay rise."

Demands include a pay rise for workers, decent sick pay and an end to zero-hours contracts.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady and other union leaders will be among speakers at a march and rally outside the £28m conference centre within the Winter Gardens.

The last time a national party conference was held in Blackpool was in 2007, when the Conservatives gathered for their main October conference in the town.

The £28m state-of-the-art Winter Gardens conference and exhibition centre opened its doors this month (February) four years on from the start of preparation work.

The largest venue of its kind in the north, the state-of-the-art will be able to host over 1,600 delegates.

This will bring the total capacity for the whole Winter Gardens complex to 7,000.

Claims the new conference centre was millions of pounds over budget were dismissed by council leader Coun Lynn Williams.

It came after Conservative group leader Coun Tony Williams told a meeting of the full council he believed the project was as much as £10m over budget.

He said some of this was due to disputes between the council and contractors during the construction of the complex.

Following the meeting, Coun Tony Williams said: "I welcome the news that the conference centre is now open and fully functional after such long delays.

"Any new addition to the town's visitor facilities is welcomed.

"However, I have heard from several sources that the cost of the centre is a massive £10m over budget."

But Coun Lynn Williams said the conference centre was "not over budget".

"We have acknowledged we have had disputes with the contractor, but we are confident of our position in terms of these disputes," she added.

Click HERE to read Lucinda Herbert's report on the development following her visit to the conference centre earlier this week.

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