Blackpool Promenade partially closes for 10 weeks as abandoned subway filled in

The abandoned tunnel underneath Blackpool Promenade, near Central Pier, will be filled in with foam concrete over the next 10 weeks.

The road remains partially closed between New Bonny Street and York Street, with a diversion in place at the west end of Chapel Street. Drivers will be unable to turn from Chapel Street onto the Prom during this time.

Blackpool Council announced its plans to fill in the tunnel last week.

Local historian Ted Lightbown, of the Blackpool and Fylde Historical Society, said: “In the mid-Sixties it was well-used as a multi-purpose walkway from one side of the road to the other. But it has been sealed off for quite some time. I would have thought it was some time in the Nineties or late Eighties they stopped using it.

“I remember it well from the early Sixties on Bonfire Night - chasing some girls down there with sparklers!

“People are very interested in there being tunnels in the town, but most of them are quite fictional. People swear they took a tunnel between the Tower and the Winter Gardens that just didn’t exist.”

A Blackpool Council spokesman said: “Due to the subway being abandoned many years ago, it is in a poor condition and in a dilapidated state. Repair and ongoing maintenance would be at a significant cost, so the subway will be decommissioned by infilling with light weight foam concrete. This will eliminate any ongoing maintenance costs for the council and increase the safety of the roads by increasing the loading capacity of Chapel Street and the Promenade."