Exclusive:Urban explorers Derelict Detectives get inside Blackpool's Metropole hotel and show extent of damage

Urban explorers have been inside a Blackpool hotel used to house asylum seekers for more than five years and documented the damage inside.

Derelict Detective, a pair of urban explorers who go by the name Mr and Mrs Detective on social media, got inside The Metropole yesterday despite security being onsite.

The landmark hotel owned by operators Britannia, is currently unoccupied, following the exit of the asylum seekers who were living there between September 2021 and July 2026.

There has been much speculation about what is to happen to the hotel - the only one on the sea side of the Promenade - with Britannia saying they are expected to make an announcement about it’s future soon.

In the video, the urban explorers from Accrington get inside a dinning room and huge numbers of abandoned plates and tables can be seen stacked up.

The hotel’s ornate features can be seen in varying states of disrepair, while ladders propped against a wall could signal work is ongoing to restore the building.

Flooring has been badly damaged with patches of tiles running the full length of the corridors scratched beyond repair.

Painting and wall features have also be removed and in some cases damaged the walls behind them.

In one corridor the flooring had been completely removed to reveal floorboards.

A spokesman for Derelict Detective said: “We gained access to the hotel on Monday, November 2 through an already open window.

“I had been looking online for places to explore when I stumbled across a news article stating that The Metropole had recently been vacated. Knowing the hotel has been at the centre of local controversy in recent years, we decided to head down and take a look for ourselves.

“​To those who criticise urban explorers and accuse us of breaking in, I want to assure people that we never force entry, we only ever explore a building if there is an existing, open entry point.

“We have been on hundreds of trips where we haven't been able to get inside, but because we obviously don't have photos from the places we couldn't access, the public only ever sees our successful explores. That makes it easy to assume we manage to get into everywhere we go, which simply isn't true.”

The short clip clearly shows the hotel is in no state to welcome paying guests and would need an extensive renovation before being able to do so.

Britannia received funding to cover the time in which it was host to hundreds of asylum seekers, but the Government has made it clear the cost to revamp the hotel to its former glory would lie with them.

Britannia has previously told The Gazette there was “a lot of planning and discussion taking place behind the scenes” but the hotel chain said it was not yet in a position to disclose details. It was hoped that this would be possible in the near future.

A spokesman said previously: “We welcome constructive conversation regarding the future of The Metropole Hotel in Blackpool and fully understand the local interest in restoring this iconic hotel as a community asset.

“We are currently reviewing our options while giving due consideration to local perspectives, and we will share further updates with the community once a plan has been finalised.”

In August Anna Turley, the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, visited Blackpool to formally announce that the Government was delivering on its pledge to end the use of asylum hotels for good – including the resort’s Metropole Hotel.

Mrs Turley praised the “gorgeous” hotel and said it could now return to bringing people to the town and adding to the heritage and the history of the area.

Blackpool South MP Chris Webb, who campaigned strongly to move the asylum seekers out to more appropriate accommodation, said at the time: “This is a big milestone, I pledged to get this hotel closed and brought back to the use of our tourism industry.

“The hotel now has been passed back from Serco to Britannia and we’ve been told they’re looking to refurb it and reopen it back to being a tourist hotel. It’s been a long campaign but one I’m delighted that we’ve succeeded.”we’ve succeeded in.”