Life in the seaside town with a £470m blackhole: How Skegness is battling spiralling debt, drugs, homelessness… and a ‘snobby’ nickname they can’t stand

Staycations at Butlins, hours spent running around theme parks and beach days powered by hot sugary donuts and sticks of sickly sweet rock is the image conjured up in most people’s minds when they think of Skegness.

However, people who live in the ‘run down’ and ‘outdated’ town centre have revealed a soft underbelly which goes unnoticed by tourists spending most of their time immersed in the attractions.

In the summer months, the 20,700 population of Skegness swells to upwards of 250,000 with visitors piling on to crowded trains fora taste of seaside nostalgia.

But that novelty has worn off for ‘depressed’ residents and struggling local businesses who are left wondering when they will see results from the almost £5million loan taken out by Lincolnshire County Council to improve the town.

Skegness thrived in the 19th century when railways made it a popular escape for working-class families but in 2023 it ranked bottom in Which? Magazine’s 2023 poll of seaside resorts in Britain.

Tony Singh Talwar, owner of Massive Clearance Shop on the high street, told MailOnline how the use of Class A drugs is fuelling a rise in homelessness in the town.

The 44-year-old said: ‘It’s very sad to see and it comes down to drugs. I know some homeless people because I have helped them get off the streets. 

‘They were claiming benefits but end up spending them on drugs and then find themselves homeless. The only people benefitting from that are the dealers.’

Mr Talwar couldn’t be sure if the drugs are being distributed by county lines or homegrown dealers but another local, 65-year-old Paul Canning, suspects the majority are holiday-makers looking to make a quick buck.

The retired aircraft electrician said he has also seen homelessness rising in the area, adding: ‘You see quite a few people sleeping in the doorways of the many closed and boarded up shops.’

Paula Carter, who owns a caravan in Skegness and has visited annually for 12 years, said she too has ‘noticed more homeless people this year’.

When MailOnline visited the town centre, homeless individuals were slumped on the footpath of the high street – some were even unconscious.

In January, East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) spent £70,000 to install four emergency sleeping pods in the district after a report revealed the number of rough sleepers had increased from 167 for the whole of 2023/24 to 152 in the first nine months of 2024/25 alone – three quarters of those were in Skegness.

Earlier in the month, the council defended its management of the issue following backlash on social media over a homeless man who was found dead on the street in December 2024.

ELDC said they offered him accommodation on ‘many occasions’ but he refused their help and added that seven out of the 17 rough sleepers who had been offered assistance that week had also turned it down.

Councillor William Gray said the authority had found more people on the streets with lifestyles he described as ‘chaotic’ last year, with mental health issues and drug and alcohol addiction among the main problems preventing them from maintaining a tenancy.

Locals said crime is not an issue during the day, but Mr Talwar admitted he gets ‘scared’ at night as people under the influence of Class A’s ‘switch’ and anti-social behaviour begins.

He spoke of fights breaking out, drunk out-of-towners getting rowdy as they pour out of nightclubs and penniless homeless people stealing food to stay alive.

‘Mental health issues are quite bad here, a lot of people are suffering from depression,’ he explained.

The cheery businessman who greeted us with a beaming smile began to weep as he candidly spoke of his own struggle with depression as someone who spends most of his time in Skegness.

People complained about the state of the town centre and acknowledged the stark difference compared to the lively resorts and theme parks which are about a 15-minute drive away but feel like ‘an entirely different world’.

Ms Carter, who was walking her dog Archie, said: ‘A few of the pubs are getting quite run down, there are a lot of shops that are derelict and boarded up, and some markets never really open anymore. It’s a real shame.’

‘There seems to be even more fast-food joints now, like kebab shops and Asian take-aways, which is surprising as we already had so many. They are replacing more traditional spots where you could get fish and chips or a roast dinner.

‘I think it tarnishes the image of the town. It’s all well and good if the demand is there, but if there isn’t then they will end up having to close.’

The 56-year-old believes many businesses fail because they stay open during the quiet winter months instead of closing for refurbishments to bring their ‘out-dated’ look up to a better standard which would in-turn attract more customers in the summer to tide them over for the year.

She said the nicknames ‘Skeg-Vegas’ and ‘Skeggy’ have caused people who have never visited to form misconceptions about the town which come across as ‘classist’.

‘There is lots of gambling, arcades and a big love of bingo here but being associated with Las Vegas brings a tacky element. 

‘You can even buy towels and trinkets that say ‘Skeg-Vegas’ which I don’t really approve of,’ she said.

Despite her gripes, Ms Carter ‘absolutely loves’ Skegness for its ‘gorgeous’ beaches, ‘lovely’ people and the fact there is ‘something for everybody’. 

She encouraged people to ‘stop being judgemental and come down to have a look for themselves’.

Earlier this month, former leader of Lincolnshire County Council Martin Hill defended the authority’s £469million debt after criticisms from Reform UK.

Mr Hill argued that major new developments which would improve the town would not be possible without borrowing.

Comparing it to a 30-year mortgage and highlighting the ‘cheap rates’ at which they borrow from the Public Loans Board, Mr Hill listed off plans for ‘major projects like bypasses, new schools and fire stations’.

But this week Reform kicked the Conservatives out of power on Lincolnshire County Council winning 44 out of 70 seats.

The Tories had been in control of the council for nearly 30 years.

Reform secured 73,207 votes across the county – more than Conservative and Labour put together. 

Dame Andrea Jenkyns was crowned the mayor of Greater Lincolnshire in this week’s elections.

Reform’s deputy leader and Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice described the party’s success in the county as a ‘seismic change’. 

Speaking at the count at Grimsby Town Hall, Dame Andrea said it marked a ‘new dawn in British politics’.

She will now represent about 1.1 million people who live in the combined county for the next four years.

The former Tory MP, who won with 42% of the vote, said: ‘I want to ensure that Lincolnshire is the best place to bring up your children, to retire and live. My ultimate goal is that Lincolnshire thrives.’

It is now unclear what will happen to the county council’s huge debt and what the future holds for Skegness.

Shopowner Mr Talwar expressed concerns over how the loans are being spent due to a lack of visible changes and believes councils ‘should never take out loans’ as they ‘generate enough money from our taxes’.

He said: ‘The centre is 100 per cent run-down and outdated, so it does need these investments, but being a member of the public, we always question where is this money and our taxes going? You don’t actually see any of it going back into the community, there isn’t enough being done.

‘The council say they can’t even afford Christmas lights which I find hard to believe. It’s little things like that which make you question where the cash is actually going.’

As Skegness relies heavily on tourism, locals, business owners and councillors were glad to hear last week’s news of East Midland Rail’s (EMR) £26million investment into its railways with hopes it will provide more trains to meet the high demand from holiday-makers.

Every summer, Uber driver Kay Farmer witnesses the chaos that a lack of frequent trains with enough capacity brings.

The 59-year-old told MailOnline: ‘They don’t add any extra carriages, especially on busy change over days like Fridays and Saturdays, so you have people queuing up down the street.’

She said the carriages become extremely crowded with people who paid for a ticket not even being able to get a seat, adding: ‘When I pick them up every week, they say ‘I’ve been stuck on that train and the kids have had to sit on their suitcases’. 

‘So, I think this investment will be a good thing as it won’t put people off coming here.’

Councillor Davie and the CEO of Butlins Jon Hendry-Pickup were also optimistic about the investment bringing in more tourists.

Mr Davey said: ‘Skegness is still the fourth most popular seaside resort in the UK, but we have less visitors than we did when I was growing up and we had the trains coming in from Sheffield and Leicester. So, I am certainly hoping for more frequency of journeys.’

He was also positive about the town’s ‘run-down’ main railway station undergoing a £3.3million refurbishment as ‘having a welcoming arrival point is incredibly important’ for tourism.

Butlins’ Skegness branch has managed to avoid a decline in visitors and still welcomes 550,000 people a year, partly due to its popularity as a brand but also boosted by new attractions and upgraded venues thanks to a recent £20million investment.

But Mr Hendry-Pickup did not argue with resident’s complaints about the town centre, telling MailOnline: ‘You want to try and make sure you keep current and relevant, and try and keep everything in the type of condition that you want it to be. We try to do that at Butlins. 

‘Investment into the area to bring more people in is definitely going to be a good thing.’

The business tycoon said that his guests only complaint is that it takes a long time for them to get to Skegness, adding: ‘That’s why the investment into trains, from our point of view, is good news, because if they don’t want to drive and they don’t want the uncertainty of traffic, then they’ve got that option.’

James Mellors, director and owner of Fantasy Island theme park just across the road from Butlins, agreed that the prospect of improved rail services is good news for tourism.

The 47-year-old said: ‘The trains, unfortunately, are not big enough. They’re not on time. There’s so many problems with the trains, including return tickets being priced at £50 per person – that a lot of money for a family of four, for example.

‘So, any investment in infrastructure to allow people to get to the coast is greatly receive but it’s not just about having nicer trains, it’s about making them affordable to the right people.’