I live in seaside town where The Bay is filmed – tourists flock to visit us now but there is a sinister underbelly
DRUNKS swig cider from a bottle outside a derelict house, while boarded-up shops pepper the seafront.
It’s a far cry from the stunning vistas of Morecambe depicted on ITV’s gritty crime drama The Bay – but locals say the show’s take on the town’s crime is spot on.
While murders are rare in the Lancashire town, drugs have been running rife.
Cleaner Jennifer Allan, 64, said: “Drugs are everywhere here. You see people wander around out of it all the time.
“But it’s like a lot of seaside towns.”
Local heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury’s face glares from a mural just yards from drug dealers and alcoholics wandering the streets.
Wraps of heroin are sold for just £10, with ketamine, crack cocaine and cannabis also sold from the rundown streets of the town’s West End, according to one former addict The Sun spoke to during a visit.
The area is one of the most deprived areas of the country – ranked 34th highest out of almost 35,000 neighbourhoods in England based on jobs, wages, education and other measures.
Mum-of-two Sandra Hughes, 54, said: “My daughter got caught up in it all and took a lot of ketamine.
“You see drug deals taking place in the street.
“And there is a lot of homeless people and drunks around in the rundown areas.
“You get quite a few robberies too.”
The ITV show is entering its fourth series, with family liaison DS Jenn Townsend – played by actress Marsha Thomason – continuing to solve crimes.
Last month 12 members of an organised crime gang were jailed for a total of nearly 100 years for supplying drugs in Morecambe and nearby Lancaster.
Tourist boost
Locals claim ITV’s The Bay accurately illustrates the reality of the town – both the good and bad.
In fact, tourists are now not just coming to pose with the statue of dancing TV comic Eric Morecambe.
The town has seen an influx of tourists keen to enjoy the stunning scenery of Morecambe Bay thanks to the hit TV show.
Filming for all four series took place along the beach, particularly around the Stone Jetty, which is now all that remains of the original Victorian harbour.
A missing boy’s body was found on the beach in the first series.
Filming has also taken place amid the Art Deco glamour of The Midland hotel as well as Rita’s Café.
Café owner Lynn Turner, 69, said: “We get people coming here from all over because of the show.
“They’ve seen how beautiful the beach is and want to see where things were filmed.
“There have been scenes filmed inside the café but we’ve had a few bands like Blossoms film here too.
“People want to see the town, warts and all.
“We do have drug problems and there are drunks and homeless people and some of the town is a bit rundown.
“But we don’t get much trouble and we have the amazing beach in front of us.”
‘People are struggling but it’s a great town’
The town is also to get a further boost when the Eden Project North opens in two years.
It is being built opposite Rita’s with three seafront shell-shaped pavilions planned for the beach.
More than one million visitors are expected every year, giving a major boost to the town, which has many boarded up shops and high levels of deprivation.
Mum-of-one Yvonne Mills, 57, said: “People are struggling.
“Sometimes I struggle to buy enough food or heat my flat.
“But I’m not alone.”
Football steward Doug Evans, 62, said: “There are a lot of people struggling here with the cost of living crisis.
“People struggle to buy enough food to feed themselves.
“But I love it here. It is a good place to live.
“Yes there is a lot of poverty but it is just like any seaside town that has its problems with drink and drugs.
“There are certainly worse areas – look at Blackpool for instance.”
Screenwriter Daragh Carville based The Bar in Morecambe as he grew up there.
He told the Radio Times: “It’s a really interesting mix of things, because on the one hand it’s very striking, it’s beautiful, it’s got extraordinary views out across the bay towards the Lake District.
“But it’s also got that very distinctive British or Irish seaside town quality, because as with many seaside places, it has slightly lost its raison d’être.”
Asked why he chose it, the writer said: “It’s literally on the edge of the country, but there’s also a metaphorical edge to it as well.
“There is poverty, there is crime and a high level of deprivation here.”
The seafront is dotted with pubs, slot machine arcades, second hand books shops and fishing tackle stores.
Behind are cramped streets with terraced houses but there are also large houses on the edge of town as well as caravan parks.
Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury lives in a £1.7million mansion with his wife Paris and their six kids.
The Gypsy King has gold radiators, curtains and a red marble kitchen in his stunning home.
As well as Eric Morecambe, the Lancashire resort can also boast Last of the Summer Wine actress Thora Hird as its most famous past faces.
Deaths on ‘devil’s beach’
However, Morecambe Bay hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2004 over the cockle picker disaster.
Twenty-three Chinese illegal immigrant labourers drowned after being trapped by an incoming tide.
Twenty-one bodies were recovered within hours, a woman’s skull washed up six years on and one man has never been found.
All were working illegally, picking cockles for hours on end to send money back to their families.
One Chinese newspaper described Morecambe Bay as “The Devil’s beach”.
Back in the West End, cleaner Jennifer said: “It doesn’t get talked about much these days.
“But everyone knows what happened. It was a terrible tragedy.
“The Bay is showing what Morecambe is really like – especially how friendly the people are.
“It’s not all murder and drugs.”
