Council answers concerns over holiday area crime figures

Blackpool Council has welcomed figures that show a notable fall in anti-social behaviour in the resort – including areas associated with the holiday trade.

Data from Lancashire Constabulary, shared with Blackpool Community Safety Partnership, shows that anti-social behaviour (ASB) rates fell back by 11.9% between April 2025 and February 2026, compared to the same period in 2024-25.

This included drops of 7.8%, 13.2% and 20.6% in Bloomfield, Claremont and Talbot wards, respectively. Additionally, there has been a 38% drop in youth-related ASB, compared to last year.

The figures were released just before he run-up to Easter, a period which traditionally brings holiday visitors flocking into the resort.

It comes as a well known hotelier Ian White, a member of StayBlackpool, raised concerns that that some crime statistics indicated that the resort’s holiday trade areas, such as Bloomfield , Claremont and Talbot, seemed to be among the worse for crime generally.

Data collected between March 2024 and February 2025 showed Talbot with 1,121 incidents, Bloomfield with 987, and Claremont with 968, highlighting them as the top hotspots in the borough. All three wards include areas of holiday accommodation.

He said they continued to be among the worst areas for crime and reflected badly on the town when visitors booked in to stay in those areas.

Mr White said: “I have again raised the issues of why the worst three areas in all articles are holiday areas. Clearly the council has lost control of these areas.

“With the low accommodation prices of some of the worst properties, I’ve suggested that accommodation being “managed” by people with no interest in Blackpool was directly causing these raised dire statistics, with the serious risk of individuals with extensive additional needs being shipped in to Blackpool by other councils.”

But Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “Anti-social behaviour and youth anti-social behaviour rates are down, in fact – particularly across the three wards Mr White has named.

“The town centre wards will record higher incident rates overall – especially around popular late night venues – because of the millions of people we welcome to the town each year.

“But our latest data from Lancashire Police shows that ASB is down by 11.9% overall, and by 38% for youth ASB.

“Everyone’s working really hard on this because we want everyone to have confidence in the town.

“We’ve got a great partnership with the police, who are responsible for tackling crime in Blackpool, as well as with youth clubs doing brilliant work, and other public and third sector partners; all working to prevent and disrupt crime.”

She added: “Blackpool has been packed, with families coming to enjoy the Easter break in a safe, welcoming resort.

“Our 2026 season is off to a great start. Only last month, Mr White attended our summer season launch, complimenting the hard work Blackpool Tourism Ltd, a council-owned company, and other businesses are putting in to attract people to the town.

“And last week he held the Stay Blackpool Trade Show, where there was a lot of confidence amongst hoteliers and attractions about the year ahead.

“We have invested millions in CCTV in recent years, more than tripling the number of cameras across the town, all of which are actively staffed.

“We hope this reassures everyone – from the hoteliers welcoming their guests, to the residents also visiting the town centre – that they can feel safe in Blackpool.”