A MAN has built a 25ft replica of Blackpool Tower in his back garden – and you won’t believe the reaction of his neighbours.

Retired sales manager Doug Smith, 63,based at Hambleton, near Poulton-Le-Fylde, Lancashire, bought it for £3,000 around ten years ago and has had it restored to its former glory.

Doug said: “It was made by apprentices at Vickers during World War Two and ended up being owned as a symbol of Blackpool tourism and travelled the country to exhibitions for them.

“Then in the 70s it got left behind in Cornwall, in the 80s it ended up in Wolverhampton and in the 1990s it got brought back to Preston.

“I bought it as in my career in sales I earned a lot of money on Blackpool Promenade and it was a great reminder of those days.

“I also fancied it for the roof of my planned shed pub, but I got told by someone from the council that we couldn’t put it on the roof, nor could we put lights on it.

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“But it’s a grey area and I’ve got round that a bit by putting it on a frame that is above the roof and we only put the lights on for special occasions.

“The last time the lights went on was for the Platinum Jubilee and I put them on for special world events – I had them on in commemoration after the Manchester Arena bombing.

The replica is now a key feature after Doug threw open his doors to AirBnB guests.

The bed and breakfast called the Tower Annex  – which sleeps up to four – has a patio door that opens onto decking with the replica of the famous Blackpool Tower just feet away, above the O’Smither’s pub with a swimming pool beside it.

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And Doug is doing the room as on opening offer at £80 per night for two, with an extra £20 on top if another couple are happy to sleep on the bed settee.

Doug said: “For our guests, it’s not every day you wake up after a few beers at the weekend with the Blackpool Tower staring you in the face, but it’s a way of life for me.

“The Airbnb is a brand-new idea and we are looking forward to welcoming our first guests at the introductory offer price of £80 for a couple.”

You’d think that with a structure that tall, the neighbours might object to it, but it seems they rather like it.

Doug said: “We had the Tower down for eight months last year for renovation and I know lots of the local kids were missing it.

CHARITY EVENTS

“Blackpool has the real Tower and Ballroom, but we do charity events here about four or five times a year and can add a marquee for dancing to the back of the ‘pub’.

“We always get a special events licence if we are doing a charity function and invite all the neighbours.

“We’ve organised a charity golf day for the Seven Stars the other local pub this week – with 45 teams playing and that’s raising funds for the two Blackpool hospices – Brian House Children Children’s Hospice and Trinity Hospice.

“All the fundraising we do is for local charities, so we have a lot of support from people round here.”

“The neighbours are happy as we are raising funds for local charities and we’ve started a bit of a trend with people keeping up with the Smiths as I now know a couple of others who have pub sheds in the garden.”

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One neighbour said: “It’s funny, as when we are on the coast we can see Blackpool Tower in the distance and when we open the curtains we can now see another Blackpool Tower in Doug’s back garden.

“We’d probably complain if it was as big as the other one in Blackpool, but it’s not and it’s great fun and Doug and his wife Caroline do a lot for local charities.”

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