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Blackpool's homeless 'almost left to die' as they ditch spice for drug that 'destroys people'

EXCLUSIVE: Blackpool has long held a reputation as a town up against it, but the Daily Star has learned a key thing about "the nature of the town" is likely to keep it attractive to the most economically vulnerable

[Michael gave insight into the trends of habits in Blackpool]

Michael gave insight into the trends of habits in Blackpool(Image: David Nelson)

Sitting on a sleeping bag with his back against the outside of a Shoezone, crutches framing a coffee cup with a handful of coins in, Michael explained how the drugs in Blackpool are changing.

Its mainly crack now people are using. Cocaines easier to come by, heroin is very low quality and hardly worth using People are getting prescription methadone and then using the crack on top.

Hes been living on the streets of the town on and off for the last 10 years, just a small part of Blackpool's homelessness scene that, along with drugs, has in some ways come to define it.

Blackpool has the worst rate of deaths from drug misuse in the country, the Lancashire County Council web page on drugs says, in the middle of various other data points that put the seaside resort at the wrong extreme of various indicators.

It is often talked about in the wrong conversations. Its fall, from jewel in the Victorian holidayers crown to drastic case study for the death of the seaside resort in the face of cheap foreign travel, is well documented.

In 2024, a presentation was given by Dr Arif Rajpura the longtime Director of Public Health Blackpool council who laid out the scale of the towns problems in black and white.

[Blackpool is supposedly an attractive place for homless people ]

Blackpool is supposedly an attractive place for homless people (Image: David Nelson)

He showed how, not only does it top the drug deaths rankings, but its fatality rate is four times higher than the rest of England: 120 people died between 2020 and 2022

Michael, 41, has lived in Blackpool all his life, but when he spoke to the Daily Star was sleeping on the streets.

I think [drug use] is more open in Blackpool because of the nature of the town. A Lot of people come here from outside because they see it as a good place to make money for drugs because its holiday makers so people come and go apparently a major pull factor for people if theyve got a bad reputation in their own towns.

There is a lot of abuse in the town, but probably not a lot more so than other towns like Manchester, Liverpool theres a lot of drugs there they're just exploited more openly because of the nature of the town.

[Blackpool has more than double the number of people assessed as homless compared to the rest of England ]

Blackpool has more than double the number of people assessed as homless compared to the rest of England (Image: David Nelson)

Theres more begging, people coming from outside and youre more welcoming from outside. If you go to places like Manchester, Liverpool, and youre living on the streets a lot of locals will want to know who you are. Youre not from this town, why are you here?

Whereas here you can be from anywhere, people dont know you and thats appealing to a lot of people.

For Michael, it is the anonymity Blackpool offers that makes the town so attractive to people sleeping rough. Data published by Blackpool Council, revealed the town had a rate fo 18% per 100,000 people assessed as homeless compared to the average for England of 7%.

Becuase of the influx of the holiday makers its less so in the winter time every Easter, when the season begins, youll get people coming from nowhere, theyll be here maybe a few months to a few years and then theyll disappear".

People want to get away from people who know them. Ive got no one, Ive got no family, I grew up in children's homes, Im not really bothered with what people think about me.

Seemingly though, others do.

But it's not just the people there that change. The drugs in the town, whats in and whats out, good and bad, has changed over the years too.

Michael added: It got pretty bad with the spice here, it got pretty bad a few years ago, but its more the quality of the drugs now.

[Amazing Grace a rehabilitation and food charity based in Blackpool ]

Amazing Grace a rehabilitation and food charity based in Blackpool (Image: David Nelson)

Its not what it used to be. People are getting really low quality drugs and mixing it with absolute c***, which is making it not worth taking.

He said he doesnt take crack but a lot of people do and thats what people are taking now.

It destroys people really quickly."

Mark Butcher, the Reform Party Chairman for Blackpool and Fleetwood told the Daily Star he believed based on headcounts through his charity work at soup kitchen Amazing Grace that numbers of homeless people in the area had dropped.

Some of his comments aligned with Michael's about Blackpools unique relationship with homelessness, although perhaps didnt feel quite the same way about it.

We get a big transient population in Blackpool, so we get everybody elses problems coming in.

We get 8,000 people that are transient moving in and out, we do get a lot of problems from out of town its a little bit exclusive to Blackpool, that.

[Reform Party chair for Blackpool and Fleetwood, Mark Butcher]

Reform Party chair for Blackpool and Fleetwood, Mark Butcher(Image: David Nelson)

Theres a lot of drug and alcohol problems were seeing a lot more people addicted to drugs, hardcore drugs, living on the streets, living in terrible, terrible situations. They almost get left to die.

Dr Arif Rajpura, Blackpool Council Director of Public Health, said: As a local authority, we are wholly committed to improving the quality of life for people and tackle issues such as drug misuse head on.

We work with many partners to provide support to those with substance misuse issues to help them live fulfilling lives.

The Horizon service which is funded by Blackpool Council provides substance misuse services across Blackpool including a range of drug and alcohol support, information, health screenings, treatments and counselling. The Lighthouse service is a community alcohol service run by Horizon. We have also recently officially launched a new Recovery Hub which is a dedicated, welcoming space offering support to individuals affected by addiction and in recovery.

[The Daily Star spoke with Mr Butcher about homelessness in Blackpool ]

The Daily Star spoke with Mr Butcher about homelessness in Blackpool (Image: Reach Commisioned)

Councillor Jo Farrell, Blackpool Council Cabinet Member for Communities and Wellbeing, said: The number of rough sleepers in Blackpool is relatively low compared to the national picture. Its because a lot of the councils work is directed at stopping people from being homeless in the first place.

The reasons why a person is sleeping on the streets are often complex. It is important that we understand what those are in the first instance and the individuals circumstances.

Here in Blackpool the council along with a number of partners are extremely active in engaging with rough sleepers and homeless people. The councils Housing Outreach team or partners go out in the town nearly every day to identify people who may need support and assistance. We work closely with many organisations to assess a persons situation so that we can provide the right support. This may involve finding suitable accommodation which in most cases we are able to find.

If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Talk To Frank for free, confidential advice on 0300 1236600, texting 82111 or visiting their website

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