A SEASIDE town made famous by former world heavy-weight boxing champ Tyson Fury is on the ropes.
Gritty ITV cop drama ‘The Bay’ attracts five million viewers, but has done nothing to restore Morecambe’s fortunes as a tourist and holidaying hotspot.
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Graffiti covers the Outdoor Market space in MorecambeCredit: NB PRESS LTD
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A man lays smoking with a can next to himCredit: NB PRESS LTD
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Morecambe has long been a popular beach destinationCredit: NB PRESS LTD
Dilapidated buildings, boarded up shops, closed hotels, and vandalised shopping arcades blight the Lancashire seaside resort.
And homeless down-and-outs, swigging cans during the day, plague the streets.
Morecambe FC has been besieged with talks of going under after 105 years, with the beleaguered club enduring a chaotic summer since being relegated from League Two, with staff and players not even paid.
Some football club workers have been offered food parcels. As it stands, the National League club is on the brink of extinction, though takeover talks continue.
Eden Project Morecambe – a sister to the popular Eden bio-spheres in Cornwall – is hoped to breath new life into the area and bring tourists flocking back to the resort. But that is at least three years away.
Crime and unemployment rate in Morecambe
Morecambe is the second most dangerous medium-sized town in Lancashire and among the top 20 overall in England and Wales, according to CrimeRate.
The most common crimes in Morecambe are violence and sexual offences, with 45 reports per 1,000 people – which is 1.87 times the national average for the 12 months up to May 2025.
For the same period, Lancashire Police recorded 475 reports of criminal damage and arson in the town – or 13 per 1,000 people.
And the crime rate for drugs is 1.26 times the national average at 3.87 reports per 1,000.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Lancaster and Morecambe, sits at 4.4 percent, three percent higher than the average for North West England.
Brother and sister Liam, 14, and Lola, nine, were visiting Morecambe from their native Canada and were drawn to the vandalised and graffitied former shopping arcade, which is fenced off to the public due to a rusted and collapsing roof.
They were accompanied by their aunt and nan Kay Robinson, 73, who remembers the good old days of the seaside resort.
It used to boast such attractions as the Super Swimming Stadium lido, the pleasure park Frontierland and sea life centre Marineland.
“It’s gone down hill since the 1970s,” said Kay.
“There used to be fairgrounds, illuminations, an amazing swimming pool, there used to be everything. We liked coming here better than Blackpool.
Tyson Fury, 36, claims he will ‘NEVER’ return to boxing just weeks after announcing comeback and hints at new career
“Even the outdoor market has gone now. Everything has gone or is going now.
“You can’t go round the pubs like you used to, it used to be a great night out around Morecambe, but not now.”
Visitors love taking selfies beside the statue of the late comedian Eric Morecambe, which was unveiled on the promenade by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.
Holidaymakers Paul and Alison Johnson, from Glossop, posed with grandson Ralphie, eight, as they enjoyed the summer sunshine.
Paul, 59, who has visited Morecambe over the years, said: “It seems to be getting cleaner, now this sea front has been done up.
“We have a caravan near here.”
Alison, 51 said: “It’s lovely in the sunshine.”
But directly opposite the iconic bronze tourist attraction stands reminders of the resort’s decline.
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Closed shops and rundown buildings blight the townCredit: NB PRESS LTD
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Rubbish piled outside closed cafe Martin’sCredit: NB PRESS LTD
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The shuttered up Bayside EmporiumCredit: NB PRESS LTD
Standing side-by-side, Eric’s Cafe and the Tivoli Bar, are closed down at what should be the height of the summer season.
And the town centre, just a streets from the prom, is lined with abandoned shops, closed down pubs and eateries and empty banks.
A homeless rough sleeper was slouched by the entrance to the tired Arndale Centre, which stands beside a boarded-up pawnbrokers and opposite empty shops and the shell of the former Santander bank.
In a shaded doorway down a run-down street a couple of scruff-looking men, one sitting beside his crutches, were swigging from cans of super-strength Oranjeboom beers, as parents and kids walked past.
Back on the sunny promenade where the popular outdoor swimming pool, which used to be home of the Miss Great Britain beauty contest between 1956 and 1989, John and Lynda Ritchie were taking a stroll.
“This is where they are going to build the Eden centre, if it ever gets off the ground,” said John, 80, visiting with wife Lynda, 80, from Kendal.
“It can’t come soon enough. It’ll hopefully save the town.”
“We used to bring our lads here to swim in the pool, but it is such a shame what it is like now,” said Lynda.
“Hopefully things will change when the Eden Project comes, but I wish they’d hurry up, I’d like to see it.
“The place has very much gone down hill, as many seaside towns have since people started to go abroad.”
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First-time visitors David and Lynn Buswell, from LeicestershireCredit: NB PRESS LTD
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Canadian visitors Liam and LornaCredit: NB PRESS LTD
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Festival Market trader Karen Brown, 66, has been running her stall The Beauty Box for 50 yearsCredit: NB PRESS LTD
First-time visitors David and Lynn Buswell, from Leicestershire, were walking their Staffie Tyson – aptly named as Morecambe is the home town of former world heavyweight champ Tyson Fury – along the prom after parking up their motorhome.
“Never been here before. I’m here because my mum and dad had a photo taken with the Eric Morecambe statue and we want to recreate it,” said David, 64, a music producer.
“It looks like an average, typical English seaside town, nothing special. Okay for the kids, but not us.
“We will be parking up the motorhome for one night – not for two though. I think we will be moving on.”
Lynn, 69, said: “We have just come down from the Lake District, which was beautiful. This is a stark contrast.”
South of the town centre, the Cumberland View pub is boarded up.
Beside the former almost seafront railway station – closed now and turned into a pub – is the Festival Market.
Trains, no longer full or excited holiday makers and day trippers from West Yorkshire, now pull in to a dowdy wooden platform next to a boarded up former restaurant 500 yards of more inland.
Festival Market trader Karen Brown, 66, has been running her stall The Beauty Box for 50 years, and has seen the decline of the town. “The place has gone really down hill since the glory days. The job is tougher now,” said Karen.
“I don’t do too bad in summer with the tourists. They come to buy things. But, in winter, the locals don’t tend to to use the market. They should do, they’ll whinge if it goes.
“The visitors come round saying what a lovely market it is and they appreciate it, but the locals, not so much.”
Fellow market trader Julie Norris, 58, has run sweet stall, Sweet Tweets, for five years.
“I’m finding trading in Morecambe alright because all the other sweet shops are shutting down,” said Julie.
“The kids are coming here for their holiday treats. And we also do well from people coming here to buy snacks and sweets before going to the cinema next door.
“They don’t want to pay rip-off cinema prices so stock up here before going to see a film.
“I love working here and if the Eden Project comes it will be fantastic. It’ll be very family orientated.”
Tyson Fury
Fury is arguably the town’s biggest name, living in the area with his wife Paris and their seven children there.
Speaking last year, he told TNT: “17 years, it’s become my home. A new home, away from home. I actually cast myself now as from Morecambe, I don’t say I’m from Manchester anymore.
“It’s been keeping me grounded – I have always likened Morecambe to Alcatraz island… because if you go 200m that way you hit the sea, and if you go a couple of miles that way you hit the M6 motorway, and you’ve got to drive an hour to get to any city.
“It’s a big island, there’s not much distractions, there’s not much stuff to do, you can’t spend your money here because there’s nothing to spend it on, apart from Asda… That’s it, really, it’s a good place for a fighter…
“It’s kept me grounded, away from all the limelight.”
He added that locals are very respectful and leave him alone when he goes for runs. “If I go to any other city in the world, oomph Elvis has landed.”
The “Gypsy King” has previously expressed interest in buying Morecambe FC and told talkSPORT: “I was thinking I invest X amount of millions in them. Basically throw it at them and keep them going up. I’ve been offered to buy Morecambe Football Club.
“I own all the training facilities anyway and the training gym. So who knows? You might be looking at a football club owner.”
The Tyson Fury Foundation sits in the north-east corner of the football club’s Mazuma Mobile Stadium.
However, theTelegraphhas claimed that Fury currently has no interest in buying the Shrimps.
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Fury running along the promenade at Morecambe in 2022Credit: Alamy
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The seafront is often packed with tourists in the summer
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A sunken boat on the beachCredit: NB PRESS LTD
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Lynda and John Ritchie were taking a stroll along the promenadeCredit: NB PRESS LTD
He said: “It’s hard to let it go because it is something I enjoy. When I am around boxing it makes me miss it more. I try to only train three times a week now but it’s hard . . . very hard.
“And when people see me at the shows they assume I am coming back anyway, so it’s hard to walk away.
“I have had ground-breaking offers and everyone knows that I do not work for cheap pay.
“My eldest lad just did his first six-mile run with me and I am very proud of him because, before that, he couldn’t manage only two miles. So he is coming on well.”
Usyk and the 27-year-old Londoner Dubois managed to sell out the home of football, but even their two-bout rivalry would be dwarfed by the fantasy fight between Fury and 35-year-old AJ.
Fury’s larger-than-life persona — be it hosting daily workouts on Instagram during lockdown or starring in the WWE — has made him the sort of crossover star that boxing needs.
And he reckons there is still a desperate lack of superheroes left in the sport who can offer fight fans a 12-round escape from reality.
Tyson Fury spotted running after Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois as he posts X-rated message to rival
Fury explained: “It’s not just a problem in heavyweight boxing, it’s a problem for all of boxing.
“I don’t want to insult anyone but boxing is entertainment and it is also showbusiness. People come home from working hard at their 9-5 job — which they don’t even like — and they want to put their feet up on a Saturday.
“They want to have a couple of beers, invite a few of their friends around and be entertained.
“But when you turn the TV on and see two boring characters who just stand there and don’t say s**t, they will think, ‘What am I watching?’
“If I went to an event and it was total s**t, I would never go back again or switch it on again.
“But if something is good, I’ll book and go again. And it is the same in boxing.
Dream match imminent?
“There’s always a lack of charisma and characters. Every era has a couple of great characters and there are always a few great fighters who nobody remembers because they weren’t colourful enough characters.”
When the Fury and Joshua fight finally happens, Britain will stand still and everyone will pick a side.
The media events and face-to- face interviews will be worth the pay- per-view fee alone, even before a punch is thrown.
With the Saudis backing both men, it would generate hundreds of millions of pounds and would probably be a double header at Wembley and Riyadh.
And — following years of failed negotiations and rows over pulling power and value — Fury says they will be able to thrash out a fair deal.
He joked: “I would accept 90 per cent of the purse considering he’s coming back off a devastating knockout loss and I am coming off of two s**t losses!
Support from Paris
“But, honestly, the business side is irrelevant. If we do the fight it will be a level playing field of 50-50. I wouldn’t want to take advantage of him.”
And what about Fury’s long-suffering wife Paris, who tragically lost a baby boy six months into her pregnancy in the week building up to the first Usyk loss last year?
The Gypsy King revealed: “I have spoken to Paris in depth about it and she has said that she will support me with whatever I want to do.
“But that might just be because she is sick of me and wants me out of the way!
“Or it’s because we have been the real Bonnie and Clyde since 2005 and she will support me with whatever I want to do. She’s my ride or die.
“If we die, we die. And if we live, we live — that’s our sort of behaviour.”
Heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury and his wife Paris are set to get a huge boost following his latest retirement as they open their doors for their own Netflix show once again
20:08, 23 May 2025Updated 20:08, 23 May 2025
Tyson Fury and wife Paris’ Netflix show is set to return(Image: Getty Images)
At Home With The Furys, which aired on Netflix in 2023, saw Tyson try to embrace retirement with wife Paris and their seven children. The no holds barred show followed the family’s lavish holidays and A-list encounters but also their reality of changing nappies and doing the school run.
It was a hit with fans the first time around, as Paris received huge praise for manning the household while Tyson focused on his career. Now, the pair are hoping to reach the same success again with a brand new series.
The show will follow Tyson and Paris with their seven children
In series two, Tyson, 36, will give retirement another shot, having previously announced his retirement several times before, only to return to the world of boxing.
There will also be a family road trip to Monaco to invest in a racehorse. Series one featured Tyson’s younger brother Tommy Fury alongside his fiancee Molly-Mae Hague.
However, since appearing on the show, Molly-Mae and Tommy shocked fans with their breakup last summer. The couple, who are parents to two-year-old daughter Bambi, have slowly been rekindling their relationship.
During their separation, Molly-Mae filmed her own candid TV show with Amazon Prime. Molly-Mae: Behind It All saw the influencer try to come to terms with single life as she navigated her career and motherhood.
However, her recently released part two saw her confirm her romance with Tommy is back on. She told viewers: “I love Tommy so much and I love our family so much that I’m willing to ride the wave.
“And that’s not something that everyone wants to do, but it’s something that I’m willing to do because I want my family.”
Not to be left out, Tommy is also getting his own show. Earlier in the year, the BBC announced a new “candid, access all areas” documentary series about the life of Tommy.
Tommy: The Good, The Bad, The Fury will see the professional boxer return to the ring and has promised to take viewers into “every aspect of his life”.
Teasing the series, the BBC said: “Just a year ago Tommy Fury seemed to have it all – victory over his biggest adversary Jake Paul, love with Molly-Mae and a beautiful baby daughter, Bambi. But in his last fight he damaged his hand and, unable to train, his life span out of control.”
The documentary filmed Tommy as he trained for a fight after a year away from the sport, featuring unprecedented access to the Love Island star and his inner circle.
Tommy said: “A lot of people see me in the ring, they see me on social media, but they don’t see ME – the person behind all of that.
“I’m excited for everyone to finally be able to see what goes on behind the scenes, how the big fights are made, all the ups and downs as well as a glimpse into my private life.”
But, Fury has started to tease a comeback with glimpses of his return to training while the success of his series could factor into his decision to fight again.
Netflix bosses will be keen to centre a series around Fury’s preparation for what would be the nation’s biggest-ever fight.
And with the streaming service now in the boxing business – they could even make a play to broadcast the mega-bout.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul had 100 MILLION watch his fight in November with Mike Tyson – who controversially made a return aged 58.
The stream crashed amid the demand and Netflix also home to Katie Taylor’s July 11 trilogy against Amanda Serrano.
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Joshua, 35, and Fury, 36, are both exclusive to DAZN per the deals their promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren signed.
But DAZN gave permission for Irish star Taylor, 38, to rematch and beat Serrano, 36, on Paul’s undercard.
It would take quite some convincing for DAZN to allow a similar pass for AJ and Fury but the streaming giants are making an aggressive push in live sports.
They have exclusive UK rights to the WWE and Monday Night Raw in America while also pushing to take over UFC coverage from ESPN.
