Historic TVR building comes down - but there are plans to honour heritage

PLUS: Fire hits a derelict hotel in Blackpool

Luke Beardsworth

The Blackpool Lead

, and

Michael Holmes

Jan 29, 2025

Engineering work stopped at Bristol Avenue in 2006 and 250 people lost their jobs.

Since then, the original building has slowly been taken away with a clear loss of heritage in respect to the area’s motoring history through TVR.

This week we report on the last bricks being taken away, along with plans to honour that heritage.

Elsewhere, the fire on Monday night caused a significant area to be shut down by emergency services and residents were told to close their windows and doors.

Fires at derelict hotels are nothing new - and we’ve looked at what comes next for the site, and what the inside was like before it closed at the start of the decade.

Thank you for reading, as always. We appreciate your support.

Almost twenty years later - TVR building is being fully demolished

By Michael Holmes

The TVR building on Bristol Avenue. Credit: The Blackpool Lead

Blackpool’s historic TVR building will soon be no more - but there are plans to honour the resort’s motoring heritage with a statue, it can be revealed.

Images taken by The Blackpool Lead show what is left of the car company’s former base in Bristol Avenue being demolished, with a pile of bricks and steel frame reaching into the sky.

It comes almost 20 years after the TVR factory’s closure, which saw hundreds of jobs lost and the town’s car manufacturing industry in tatters.

Much of the TVR building had already been flattened, replaced by modern commercial units, but some businesses remained until recently.

MJT Cars, a mechanics, in October moved to the nearby Cerbera Way, named after one of the iconic sports cars, because of impending work.

And the bulldozers have now moved in, five years after demolition plans were passed, officially bringing Blackpool’s TVR era to an end.

Nine buildings housing some 87 commercial units will now be built, according to planning papers filed with the council in 2019.

“Between buildings six and seven will sit a TVR car statue on a plinth to commemorate the long-standing use of the site as the TVR factory,” they say.

“This will be visible through buildings two and three from Bristol Avenue.

“It is proposed that there will be limited soft landscaping around the site, with some planting around the TVR statue as a central point of the site.”

Hundreds of car parking spaces, as well as spots for eight motorbikes and 21 bicycles, are also planned.

Part of the TVR site, which opened in 1970 after a move from cramped premises in Hoo Hill, was cleared for redevelopment in 2016, with a since-closed ink rink and row of units remaining.

Engineering work ended for TVR in 2006, with around 250 workers made redundant.

The building was once under the stewardship of the late TVR owner Peter Wheeler, who sold it to Nikolai Smolenski 21 years ago.

The land, however, remained under the ownership of The Wheeler Trust, which is behind the latest building work.

Speaking to The Gazette eight years ago when bulldozers first moved in, TVR fan John Bailie said: “It is another part of Blackpool’s TVR history gone.

“It was sad when the factory closed almost 10 years ago and the fact that this building is going now is the loss of another part of the company’s physical presence in the town.”

He continued: “The cars have an incredible following; the TVR Car Club is one of the biggest and there are still companies in Blackpool working with TVR cars, doing trims, maintenance and repairs.”

Investigation launched into cause of fire at derelict Blackpool hotel

By Luke Beardsworth

The cause of a fire that lit up Blackpool on Monday night is under investigation.

Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service were called to Wilton Parade, Blackpool, at around 5.30 on Monday (27 January) with the majority of the surrounding area soon shut down for crews to tackle the incident.

Nearby residents and businesses were evacuated during the fire.

By 9pm the fire was under control and by 9am on Tuesday morning, the fire service presence had been significantly reduced.

Investigators were called to the scene on Tuesday afternoon to try to determine the cause of the fire.

Blackpool Council have also attended the building and have said work is likely to be necessary to make the building safe in the aftermath.

A spokesperson for Blackpool Council said: “Thankfully the fire was quickly brought under control last night by the fire service. The emergency services and the council worked together to evacuate and safeguard anyone in nearby properties. Road closures have just been lifted on Dickson Road and Derby Road but are still in place on Wilton Parade.

“Building Control have carried out a structural survey today and there is likely to be remedial works undertaken, which will then be followed by further assessment of the building.

“The cause of the fire is under investigation”.

The incident was reminiscent of fires at the New Hackett Hotel in both 2023 and 2020 which ultimately led to two being arrested on suspicion of arson. What was left of that site was soon earmarked for demolition as a result of the fire damage.

The hotel appears to have closed in 2020 with reports indicating that some of the rooms were ‘riddled with mould and damp’