Five arrests as two killed in Christmas and Boxing Day hit and runs
Plus: We dig deeper on the idea to build a new arena in Lancashire
Hello and welcome to the 82nd edition of The Lancashire Lead - and the final one of 2024.
The main story in today’s issue follows on from last week’s exclusive report of ambitions to build an arena in Preston. This time, Fergal Kinney looks at some of the wider context relating to the proposal - and whether Blackpool might be a more suitable location as suggested by Labour MP Chris Webb.
Unfortunately, the past week proved to be another tragic one on Lancashire’s roads with two men killed in hit and runs different parts of the county. One of those is being investigated as murder.
A quick note before moving on to the main newsletter - The Lead’s national newsletter saw a takeover from all our northern titles this weekend.
Alongside myself, The Lead North’s editor Ed Walker; senior editor Luke Beardsworth; and Andrew Greaves and Leigh Jones, from Calderdale and Teesside respectively; reflected on our favourite pieces of journalism from 2024, and looked forward at 2025.
You can read that here:
Murder arrests after man run down on Christmas Day
Three men have been arrested of murder after a man was killed in a hit and run in Blackburn.
Kirk Marsden was run down by a Toyota Land Cruiser outside The Gate Street Bar and Grill on Christmas Day. According to detectives, an altercation which happened inside the pub beforehand is believed to be linked to the fatal attack.
Emergency services were called shortly before 5pm on Christmas Day and Mr Marsden, 37, was taken to Royal Preston Hospital where he died the following day.
In a tribute released through Lancashire Police, his family wrote:
“To our hero, spread your wings far and wide your partner Leanne and your babies love you millions. You really were like no other, goodnight ❤️ x
“Kirk you were a well-loved son, brother and uncle who will be sorely missed. Rest with your dad now in heaven x.”
So far, three men aged 26, 35 and 58 have been arrested on suspicion of murder. The 58-year-old has since been released on conditional bail but the other two remain in custody.
DCI Bryony Midgley, from the Force Major Investigation Team, said:
“Our thoughts continue to be with Kirk’s family and loved ones at this extremely sad and distressing time. The family are being supported by specially trained officers and remain at the forefront of our minds. Nobody should have to go through what they are going through, particularly at this time of year.
“On the night we recovered a Toyota Land Cruiser from a carpark in Brindle Street, after it had travelled down Livesey Branch Road following the fatal collision.
“I would ask anyone with CCTV, doorbell or dashcam which covered the area between Livesey Branch Road and Brindle Street in between 4.30pm and 5pm on Christmas Day to check their footage. If you have captured a Toyota Land Cruiser please make contact with my team.
“We know there was an altercation in The Gate prior to the fatal incident outside, which is linked. I would ask any witnesses we haven’t already spoken to or anybody with mobile phone footage to also make contact with my team.
“I am aware that news of this incident will cause some concern in the community. I’d like to reassure everyone that we have increased patrols in the area."
Anyone with information or footage is asked to call 101, quoting log 0747 of 27th December 2024 or upload it directly to the Major Incident Portal.
‘Social butterfly’ ex-soldier killed in hit and run
A much loved father and family man died after being knocked off his bicycle on Boxing Day.
Lee Kervin, 50, was cycling on Dicks Lane, Ormskirk, when he was crashed into by a driver who fled the scene. He was taken to Aintree Hospital but pronounced dead in the early hours of the following morning.
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 6.45pm on so far two arrests have been made in connection with Mr Kervin’s death. In a tribute, his family said:
“Loving son of Barbara and John, and dad to son Brad. Uncle to two nieces and two nephews. Lee was a quick-witted chatty social butterfly, would always chat to anyone friendly, he liked a pint and chat.
“He was well known in the village of Parbold where he grew up with his siblings Allan and Dawn. Lee would go out of his way to help anyone he could, always chatting and helping someone out.
“He served his country in the army – in the Royal Green Jackets – serving in Northern Ireland and Sierra Leone among other places. He left the army to become a single dad to Brad.
“He stepped up to his responsibilities and loved raising Brad to become the man he is today. Lee lived in the Wigan area before returning to Parbold and eventually settling in Ormskirk.
“Lee had several jobs over the years, ranging from gardening to pub work in the kitchens. He was the handy man of the family, always ready to fix the failed attempts of DIY of his family.
“Lee had left a huge void within our small tight-knit family, and he will be greatly missed.”
First, a 29-year-old man from Burscough was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving whilst unfit through drink/drugs. He has since been released on bail with conditions, pending further enquiries.
Today, a 58-year-old man from Skelmersdale was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision. He is currently in custody.
Police say they are still at the early stages of this investigation and are continuing to appeal for any witnesses and CCTV/dashcam footage or anyone with any information to get in contact.
They are are particularly keen to hear from anyone who saw or captured a Kia Sportage being driven in the area between 6.30pm and 7pm.
Anyone with information is asked to email SCIU@lancashire.police.uk or call 101 quoting log 0850 of December 26.
Lancashire’s arena plan and what could happen next
Does Lancashire need a big, live music arena? Could it be financially viable? And where should it be built?
Last week’s edition discussed the possibility of building such a venue in Preston and today we’re digging deeper into the idea and the economics behind it.
By Fergal Kinney
While Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Yorkshire all have arenas - that is, large and versatile indoor venues used predominantly but not at all exclusively for live music - Lancashire does not.
Today, live music in the UK is a tale of two industries. At one end, for Britain’s small venue circuit, things have never been more precarious, hammered by inflationary rising costs, changing habits and - in the infamous but not atypical case of Manchester’s Night and Day Café - noise complaints from local residents. In Lancashire, more complex factors like demographic shifts and the decline of town centres have proved fatal for some small venues in Blackburn and Preston.
Arena entertainment, meanwhile, has never been bigger, providing the kind of economic activity that generates much needed bumps for GDP figures, and where party political figures compete to have events on their turf. In 2023, London’s o2 Arena sold the most tickets of its seventeen year lifespan, while the economic effect of mega-grossing tours like Taylor Swift’s $1bn-earning Eras tour of the forthcoming Oasis behemoth can be transformative for hospitality, during a nightmare period for that sector, lucky enough to be in the vicinity.
That Manchester now has the newly built Co-Op live competing with the established AO Arena, which in turn has met that challenge with a £50m investment package, is a measure of how seriously cities are taking this. But Manchester is a large and increasingly powerful city. Could one of Lancashire’s large towns or cities seriously compete?
Blackpool South MP Chris Webb floated the idea of building such a venue on the Blackpool Central site and says that his intervention has already started a debate and began to unify potential investors in the project.
“Developers have reached out to me, there are people who invest in properties and businesses who are speaking to me about potential. People want to invest in Blackpool, they get the potential, they know the footfall, it has that appeal.”
For Webb, the argument for Blackpool is about future-proofing the resort’s offer.
“We know seaside resorts are struggling and because of the issues we have got with sewage in the sea we know there has been an impact. Where an arena is open in those cold months of January, February and March, it will bring in those visitors.”
Is that, though, the same thing as a viable plan for a Lancashire venue, one that credibly understands a sector with unique risks and challenges? Lancashire already has venues, which tend to be early 20th century halls that are now operated by local authorities - like Burnley’s Mechanics Theatre or Blackburn’s King George’s Hall. In the 1970s and 80s these were frequently part of the touring circuit by leading artists, something which had dried up by the turn of the millennium.
This is part of a trend, with Music Venue Trust research in 2024 showing that many towns and smaller cities have seen a drastic reduction in live music since the 1990s. Artists are more minded to concentrate their touring efforts on a few big cities, and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has warned that ‘too many parts of the country have become cultural deserts’.
Preston v Blackpool
It is not just Blackpool that has been thinking about reversing this. In the early millennial years, Preston Guild Hall’s striking 1970s modernist design did little to save it from the fate of its increasingly unloved Lancashire hall venue siblings.
In 2014, Preston Council sold the 2000 capacity venue to local businessman Simon Rigby, and the venue went into administration in 2019. During that time, the two-room venue 53 Degrees also shut for good. Things got worse: shortly before being scheduled to reopen in 2024, dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was found in the building.
Where does Preston have the edge over Blackpool? Catchment area. As a coastal town, Blackpool’s catchment area for an arena audience is lessened by having the sea forming a large part of the circle around the town. Preston would, the argument goes, be able to mop up audiences from its north east to its south west, with excellent and proven transport links from Lancaster, Chorley, Blackburn and even reaching towards Merseyside. Is this enough, though, to compete with big and established arenas in Manchester and Liverpool?
Darren Jones, Senior Programmer at Blackburn King George’s Hall and Burnley Mechanics Theatre offered his own warning:
“You’re splitting your audience. Your big promoters already don’t tend to programme both Manchester and Liverpool, so they wouldn’t programme Manchester and Lancashire.”
Few know the challenges of booking for Preston better than Joff Hall, the onetime booker at 53 Degrees and today an established promoter for nationwide company Senbla Live Events. In his view, any prospective arena plan would need to be clear headed about the audience that exists today in Lancashire and will exist into the future. Less live music, more family entertainment and weddings.
“Arenas are expensive to fill and expensive to run. You’re going to need a volume of events beyond concerts to keep the diary full and the bills paid. What we have seen in Preston is venues in the past and none of those are there anymore, at the level they were they do not exist. That’s for a number of reasons, but if their diaries were busy with successful events then one of them would be here.”
A reason for optimism, says Hall, is something like Derby’s 5000 capacity arena, a good example of a punchy, modern and compact arena that has found a role for itself.
Webb, meanwhile, remains resolute in his belief that Blackpool would be a suitable location. He said:
“Blackpool does have that historic appeal to many across the UK because they have happy memories of coming here. If you go to a gig in Liverpool or Manchester it’s costly, the hotels are a hell of a lot more so you get more bang for your buck here. We look out for people and make sure they have a good time, we could do that with an arena.”
Pete Eastwood, who promotes Blackburn’s successful Confessional Festival and Night At The Museum franchise, argues that any arena plan should learn from best practices in Lancashire’s small independent sector: adapt, think differently, understand your audience and its limitations.
“The Ferret in Preston is an iconic musical institution now, and it’s a brilliant grassroots venue that bands go to and respect. You’ll find record shops that are also cafés. Things will never be like what they were before, and why should it, but you have to do more than one thing.”
Eastwood points to the example of Ed Sheeran, who performed at the Ferret in 2011 - even tweeting on the night asking for “a cup of tea and a shower in return for a tune” - who today headlines arenas and stadiums.
“When I put events on I want to support up and coming artists, but those artists need rehearsal spaces and venues putting on gigs first.”
Webb says that he would favour a £1 small venue levy to help venues like the Ferret and Blackpool’s Bootleg Social. This is in line with demands from the Music Venue Trust for something similar, and in 2025 10% of Coldplay’s proceeds from dates in London and Hull will be donated to the Music Venue Trust.
The argument over an arena for Lancashire speaks to some of the biggest challenges facing Lancashire in the 2020s: how to find a role against increasingly powerful city region neighbours, and to what extent can Lancashire find a story to tell to make it attractive to investors? While there are plenty of reasons to be sceptical or cautious about an arena for Lancashire, the prizes and rewards could genuinely be transformative.
“A couple of years ago we had Florence + The Machine and Liam Gallagher,” says Darren Jones, of a stroke of luck at Blackburn’s King Georges Hall in 2022, “suddenly the press were getting in touch with us, Global Radio for advertising. All the bars were busy, there was a buzz around town.”
Responding to the discussion in last week’s edition, a Preston City Council spokesperson said the authority wants to establish whether the Guild Hall has a future before embarking on any ambitions to build a new arena venue. They said:
“A new arena for Lancashire, based in Preston, would be fantastic and is something that we are willing to consider – however, it is too early to make any commitment to such a project.
“Our priority at the moment remains the Guild Hall and whether we can viably reopen it fully as a premier cultural venue for the city. The site is a complex one and work is progressing.
“To date, work has comprised asbestos removal in the roof area, followed by installation of internal scaffolding so that the roof could be inspected safely. These works are now complete and we await the report from the structural engineers as that will inform what our next steps will be.
“An arena scheme in Preston would be an ambitious undertaking and we would have to look at a variety of options across the city that could house a multi-purpose, meaningful venue that is suitable for modern uses.
“We would need to thoroughly explore all options and be open to offers, as a project of this scale would need considerable public/private collaboration and investment, with the right proposals and vision. Any new arena would need to be financially viable and work alongside existing venues in the city and across Lancashire.
“We have proven our ability again this year to host successful large-scale events in the city with BBC Radio 2 in the Park and have shown that we can cater for a mass audience. Preston has excellent connectivity by road and rail and it would be great if we could strengthen the city’s cultural heritage and leave a lasting legacy as part of the next Guild celebrations in 2032”.
Want a warmer home without the cost? Cosy Homes in Lancashire is helping to transform homes across the county with energy-efficient upgrades. With over £80m in government funding, a simple application and trusted contractors, it couldn’t be easier. Apply today.
🚆 Train services have been impacted by the theft of £100k of cables near Chorley (Sky).
🌨️ The Met Office is warning of potential heavy and persistent snow which could hit Preston much of the north of England at the start of the New Year (Blog Preston).
🚨 A teenager has appeared in court accused of causing the death of 51-year-old Safia Karieem by dangerous driving and driving whilst disqualified (Lancashire Telegraph).
🚦 Plans to use cameras to catch drivers making illegal manoeuvres on Lancashire’s roads have yet to be implemented – almost two years since they were approved (Lancashire Post).
🦷 A man who lost his front teeth after dentists missed his gum disease has won a £12,000 payout (LancsLive).
By Paul Faulkner
Lancashire County Council has no plans to seek the cancellation of elections to the authority next year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands.
The possibility of scrapping next May’s vote was opened up by the government when it revealed its intention to abolish all local authorities in ‘two-tier’ areas like Lancashire.
The move will result in the county council – and Lancashire’s 14 district and standalone councils – being wiped from the map in the foreseeable future. They will be replaced with, at most, four new authorities which will be responsible for delivering all council services across vast expanses of the county.
In spite of the short shelf of Lancashire County Council in that scenario, the government indicated that their “assumption” was that any local elections due next summer would nevertheless go ahead.
However, speaking in the Commons after the launch of the devolution white paper last Monday, local government minister Jim McMahon said local polls could be postponed if an authority set to disappear under the forthcoming revamp “actively approach[ed]” the government to say it wanted to discuss proposals for a new council set-up. He has since written to leaders in areas including Lancashire to tell them that he needs to know by 10th January if they want their elections to be cancelled.
But the LDRS understands Lancashire County Council does not intend to engage with the government over so-called “reorganisation” before that deadline – meaning the vote to elect 84 members to serve a four-year term at County Hall should go-ahead, even though the authority itself is likely to have disappeared before their tenure is up.
While the abolition of the county council now appears certain, it is understood there is no plan for the authority to hasten that moment in any attempt to steal a march on others by influencing the shape of the handful of replacement councils to be created.
Such a manoeuvre would, in any case, be complicated by lack of agreement amongst all 15 Lancashire leaders about when, how – and even whether – such wholesale changes should be made.
The white paper called for local areas to work together to redraw the local authority landscape in their patch rather than come up with “competing” proposals for a shake-up.
Thank you for reading today’s edition of The Lancashire Lead. The next issue would have fallen on New Years’ Day so I will next write to you on Sunday, January 5 instead.
