Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
This week we focus on an appalling incident of graffiti at the Blackpool Reform Synagogue.
It is being treated as a hate crime by Lancashire Constabulary, who have been praised for how they have responded to the incident.
We note the Blackpool Gazette has reported this story and understandably taken the decision not to share images of the graffiti, which can be quite distressing.
Through our discussion with the synagogue, we learned they took the view that it should not be censored and so that’s the decision we have taken and why we have taken it.
Blackpool briefing
🚧 New proposals have emerged for a dedicated motorhome park on the Blackpool Central site, with those backing the plans saying it would provide a ‘massive boost’ for the town’s tourism.
Under the new plans, backed by members of the pro-motorhome CAMpRA campaign group, the under-used central lot would be transformed into a dedicated, high-spec Central Motorhome and Campervan amenity, usually referred to as an Aire.
And, campaigners say, because motorhomes are self-contained and feature their own kitchen and bathroom amenities, there would be no need to build new toilet blocks or other facilities to accommodate them.
Blackpool Central is the site of a proposed major £300 million multi-phase leisure and regeneration development, headed by Blackpool Council.
In their latest statement, the council said it is is moving forward with a new procurement process to find an investor-developer for the leisure scheme, with the chosen partner expected to be revealed in the New Year.
However, motorhomers says that a proper amenity for the them would allow for a constant stream of stay-over visitors who would spend money in the town’s restaurants, cafes, bars and shops.
🍴 Two proposed new restaurant projects in Blackpool and Bispham appear to have been shelved.
The two planned eateries, which were both linked, were earmarked for Devonshire Road in Blackpool and Red Bank Road in Bispham.
The applicants successfully obtained planning permission from Blackpool Council earlier this summer, but their applications for premise licences were not so straightforward.
In Blackpool, the planning application for a change of use of the ground floor from a florist to a restaurant and ancillary bar at 294 Devonshire Road – formerly Flower Scentsations – was approved by planners.
Papers made reference to a “Desi Kitchen”, suggesting that the eatery would offer South Asian cuisine.
Meanwhile, in Bispham, plans to convert the former Ex-Catalogue Discount store at 64-66 Red Bank Road in Bispham into a new restaurant and ancillary bar were also approved.
But matters were cast into doubt after police raised concerns that the original individual nominated as the prospective licence holder, for both restaurants, was not a suitable candidate to hold a licence.
The planning agent David Snelson, acting for the applications, stressed that the original individual was no longer part of the operation, insisting that a Mr Steve Singh was now the new prospective license holder for both the Bispham and Blackpool premises.
However, the licence department at Blackpool stated that it was not possible to change the proposed licence holder at such late notice, and a new application would have to be submitted. The applications were duly withdrawn.
📚 The number of home-schooled youngsters in Blackpool has continued to rise, the latest report says.
Blackpool Council is monitoring some of the key risks associated with home schooling, but the report says increasing number of these children are also returning to mainstream schools.
The figures for Electively Home Educated (EHE) youngsters, another term for home schooled, were 604 in June 2024, 726 in July 2025 and 768 in July 2026.
The Council has statutory duties to ensure children educated otherwise than at school receive a suitable education and to arrange education under Section 19 where pupils are unable to attend school.
Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 requires local authorities to arrange suitable, full-time (or part-time if medically required) education for children of compulsory school age.
This duty applies when a child cannot attend a normal school because of serious illness, permanent exclusion from school or other reasons, including unmanaged bullying.
Shock and disbelief after Nazi graffiti appears at the Blackpool Reform Synagogue
By Luke Beardsworth
When antisemitic graffiti was discovered at the Blackpool Reform Synagogue this week, the town’s small Jewish community was both heartbroken and shocked.
The graffiti appeared overnight and the belief is that it was put there at around 12.45am on Tuesday morning (20 October).
It features two lightning bolts, a Swastika, and the numbers 1488 - a reference to both a white supremacist slogan coined by American neo-Nazi David Lane that includes 14 words, and Heil Hitler due to H being the eighth letter of the alphabet.
A police investigation has been launched in response to the extremist graffiti and the town’s Jewish community has been left shocked that it has appeared when they say they experience mostly kindness in Blackpool.
Rachel Tax, 52, lives in central Blackpool and is president of the Blackpool Reform Synagogue.
Speaking to The Blackpool Lead this week, she said: “It’s devastating, it’s heartbreaking. There’s anger. Sadness, everything to be honest with you. Disbelief. It’s unusual because other places have seen a lot of antisemitism but we go a little more under the radar.
“We’ve got a lot of great support in Blackpool and we do a lot of work with schools and with scout groups. So it’s just shocking and it’s really hard to put it into words.”
The government says that there has been a significant surge in high-profile antisemitic attacks in the UK over the last three years. In the North West, there was an attack in October 2025 at the Heaton Park Synagogue that left two men dead.
But while all of that has been challenging for Blackpool’s Jewish community, the town had continued to feel a safe place to be.
Rachel told us: “We know there have been swastikas and graffiti around the town previously. Quite low-level things. And there was a break-in in 2019 which was racially-aggravated but, not that I’m making excuses, there were extenuating circumstances with the individual who committed that crime.”
“But especially in the last three years, since October 7 2023, we’ve not experienced anything like this. We’ve experienced more kindness than anything else.”
The weekend prior to the graffiti appearing on the Blackpool Reform Synagogue, an event branded as a ‘Nazi gig’ by Hope Not Hate was due to take place at an undisclosed location. It was ultimately cancelled but The Blackpool Lead understands several supporters travelled to the town irrespective, having booked accommodation.
That event has been linked, by some, to the incident at the synagogue but that remains little more than a theory at the time of writing. No arrests have been made in relation to the police’s investigation.
Rachel said: “They could be right, who knows? We weren’t aware of the event happening last week at all, which is unusual because the police normally do let us know if something like that is afoot.”
She added: “The police have been amazing. They’ve been very supportive.”
At the time we spoke with Rachel, she said they had been contacted by both Chris Webb, Labour MP for Blackpool South, and County Cllr Maria Jones, who represents Reform UK for Preston Rural at Lancashire County Council, offering support.
Since then, there have been more messages of support from community and faith leaders across Blackpool and the wider Fylde Coast including The Fylde Coast Hindu Society and Rt Rev. Philip North, the Bishop of Blackburn.