Major update on ugly anti-vandalism barriers at flagship Talbot Road Sainsbury's store in Blackpool

The protective hoardings around the Sainsbury’s megastore on Talbot Road in Blackpool Town Centre have been removed.

The protective panels, which have been in place for a number of years, were originally erected in order to prevent the flagship store’s windows from being smashed, with repeated acts of vandalism having caused serious damage to the store.

As far back as 2023, the Gazette reported that Sainsbury’s on Talbot Road in the town centre was looking at methods of preventing repeated acts of financially costly vandalism to the store’s façade, which is made entirely of large glass panels.

The store, opened in 2014 as part of a £70m regeneration of the area since dubbed Blackpool’s ‘mini-Canary Wharf’ amid other developments including the new Ministry of Defence building, previously said that it was dealing with a ‘longstanding and persistent problem at the store of vandalism of the exposed ground floor windows.’

“The repeated damage to the glazing comes at a high monetary and environmental cost,” the Sainsbury's statement continued.

In order to combat acts of vandalism, barriers were installed to prevent people from being able to access the glass frontage, with the hoardings featuring the message: ‘Thanks for bearing with us while we make improvements to your store’.

On the night of Monday, June 8, however, the barriers were finally removed, with workers seen at the scene unscrewing the hoardings to take them apart and using forklifts to take them away.

‘Significantly detrimental to the quality of the building’

Earlier this year, proposals from Sainsbury’s to install a steel anti-vandal art feature directly onto the frontage of the Talbot Road store were thrown out by planners.

The store chain said the protective structure, inspired by a roller coaster design, would feature 155 steel columns at various heights in front of perspex panels, whilst also comprising the installation of window vinyl across five glass window panels at the store.

A report from planning consultants Alder King, in support of the application, said: “The new high quality public art feature is proposed to be installed to protect the building from repeated damage to the glass windowpanes.

“The application is an opportunity to present a renewed frontage across the store that evokes the spirit of some of Blackpool’s iconic landmarks, providing interest to the public realm, whilst at the same time providing the protection to the glazing that Sainsbury’s require.”

But the design of the scheme did not go down well with planners at Blackpool Council, who blasted it as ‘significantly detrimental to the appearance, character and quality of the building’. Even worse, they felt it would create the impression that an area of Blackpool which has undergone significant regeneration wasn’t ‘safe’.