James Cave | OTS News - Southport

Plans to house asylum seekers at Pontins unlikely to move forward says Council

The Home Office are unlikely to move forward with controversial plans to house up to 3,000 asylum seekers at Pontins in Ainsdale, OTS News understands. Sefton Council and the Home Office had

2nd February 2023

Police investigate after youth player attacked during local football match

Merseyside Police have launched an investigation after an on-pitch confrontation between two footballers left one youth player with a broken nose and fractured eye socket. Police were called to the Rookery on

25th January 2023

MP and Council set for talks over plans to house asylum seekers at Pontins

Southport MP Damien Moore and Sefton Council Chief Executive Dwayne Johnson are set for tense talks this afternoon, after the Council received Home Office representations to house asylum seekers in the area,

20th January 2023

SFC Ladies manager wins volunteer award

Southport FC Ladies

11th January 2023

No end in sight to Pier closure says Council

Southport Pier will remain closed for the foreseeable future after Sefton Council confirmed that December’s cold weather “exacerbated existing damage”. Independent structural engineers have now been called in to assess the damage

11th January 2023

Children’s Services improving but workforce issues remain says commissioner

A government commissioner appointed to review Children’s Services in Sefton says that improvements are being made but there must be “significant additional pace to the improvement work” in the coming months. Commissioner

2nd November 2022

Councillors cost taxpayer £930k last year, Council figures reveal

Sefton’s councillors cost the taxpayer over £930,000 during the 2021-22 financial year, according to figures published by Sefton Council. The Members’ Allowances End Of Year statement showed councillors receiving an average of

27th October 2022

Illegal Pleasureland adverts “an accident waiting to happen” to be removed

Hundreds of advertisements for a Pleasureland festival event are set to be removed by Sefton Council after they were erected around town on street furnishing without permission. Councillor John Pugh has also

27th October 2022

Southport 24 Hour A&E unit marked for closure

MP launches campaign to bring children’s A+E back to Southport

Southport MP Damien Moore has launched a campaign to return a children’s A+E service to Southport. Southport and Formby Hospital on Town Lane stopped offering a paediatric A+E service in 2003, with

29th September 2022

Council budget £1m for bypass cycle path upgrade

Sefton Council are to set aside over £1m to upgrade the cycle path alongside the Formby Bypass. The decision comes as Cabinet member John Fairclough has now confirmed funding for Sefton Council’s

1st September 2022

New theatre details made public as planning document published

Planning permission documents for the new Marine Lake Events Centre (MLEC) and Light Show have been made public. Hundreds of pages of documents have now been released, in the hope of a

20th July 2022

Scrutiny over childrens services sparks fiery debate at council meeting

A motion calling for additional scrutiny of Sefton Council’s children’s services sparked angry debate at Southport Town Hall last night. Children’s Services within Sefton have come under considerable criticism from Ofsted, to

15th July 2022

Bid to re-form the Southport Area Committee voted down by councillors

The Southport Area Committee (SAC) will not be reformed, after a motion to recreate it was voted down by councillors last night. Sir Ron Watson had called for the re-formation of the

15th July 2022

Petition for pedestrian crossing at Lulworth Road crash site submitted to Council

The family of a lady killed in a road traffic accident on Lulworth Road has submitted a petition to Sefton Council calling for a pedestrian crossing in the area. Terry Cunningham presented

15th July 2022

Labour councillor accuses Damien Moore of ‘hypocrisy’ over Johnson stance

Local Labour councillor Greg Myers has criticised MP Damien Moore on his stance on Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Mr Moore voted against Boris Johnson in last month’s confidence vote, but only released

11th July 2022

Moore backs Tugendhat for PM in Tory leadership race

Damien Moore has given his support to Tom Tugenhadt to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister. On Thursday Boris Johnson announced his intention to resign once the

11th July 2022

OUR REVIEW | Day 1 of Southport Air Show 2022

It’s been many years since I had the chance to just sit and watch the Southport Air Show in its entirety. I’ve been guilty before of just watching whatever I could see

9th July 2022

Damien Moore: PM must resign

Damien Moore has called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign. Mr Moore said that he believes that Southport constituents are “rightly uncomfortable” with the leadership of the Conservative party. The Southport

6th July 2022

SFC fixtures announced giving Port tough trip to Boston for season opener

Southport FC

6th July 2022

Decision deferred on controversial Bankfield Lane development

A decision to grant planning permission to a contested housing development on Bankfield Lane has been deferred. Council planning officers had recommended that permission be granted to construct houses at the base

30th June 2022

Council scramble to save cycle lanes after disclosure legal orders expired four months ago

Sefton Council have moved to save their controversial town centre cycle lanes, as OTS News can exclusively reveal that the legal orders used to enable them expired over four months ago. Cycle

24th June 2022

Work on Sainsbury’s in Kew set to begin after latest legal challenge fails

Demolition of the former Homebase unit on Kew Retail Park will begin next month, after years of legal challenges against a new Sainsbury’s ended unsuccessfully. Demolition of the Homebase unit, and construction

23rd June 2022

Northern Trains advises passengers “not to travel” next week during biggest rail strike in a generation

Network Rail and over a dozen rail operators are set to walk out on strike next week, which will see some services from Southport cancelled. Northern, who operate services to Manchester from

15th June 2022

Billy Bingham, legendary Southport & Northern Ireland manager, dies aged 90

Former Southport FC manager Billy Bingham, who secured promotion for the Sandgrounders among a career otherwise littered with honours, has died aged 90. Bingham passed away yesterday in his Southport care home

10th June 2022

Data shows Southport residents wait longer for life-saving ambulances

Data obtained by OTS News shows that Southport residents wait longer for ambulances than emergency calls placed nationally or within the North West. Using the Freedom of Information Act, OTS News asked

10th June 2022

John Pugh highlights “critical” taxi licence delays

Former Southport MP John Pugh says that councillors have received “a flurry of complaints” regarding delays in distributing new or renewed taxi licences in Sefton. He says that “many taxi drivers have

9th June 2022

Rate of new covid cases in Southport reaches lowest point in 12 months

The rate of recorded new coronavirus cases in Southport has sunk to its lowest point in 12 months. 50 to 60 patients a week are now being diagnosed with Covid-19 in the

9th June 2022

Sefton asks other local councils for help with green bin backlog

Sefton Council has asked other local councils for assistance in dealing with a backlog of green bin collections. Internal paperwork issued by Halton Borough Council, and seen by OTS News, says that

8th June 2022

MP statement hints at vote to remove Prime Minister – stops short of confirmation

Southport MP Damien Moore has published his strongest condemnation yet of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but again stopped short of directly calling for new leadership of the Conservatives. It was confirmed this

6th June 2022

Damien Moore expressed “total disapproval” to Boris Johnson over social gatherings inside No. 10

Damien Moore has said that he has expressed the “total disapproval of my constituents and I” to Prime Minister Boris Johnson regarding social gatherings that occurred in 10 Downing Street during coronavirus

26th May 2022