Local newspapers in both resorts took the decision not to carry the new advert.
“Skeggy” or as it’s affectionately known “The Costa del Skeg”, also claims to be “England’s cultural coast” where “great art and coast come together”.
Blackpool attracts about 13 million visitors each year, with plans in place for a £220m transformation of the resort's centre, while more than eight million people flock to Brighton annually.
In comparison Skegness only welcomes around four million visitors each year, generating £450m for the local economy.
Last year it was described in the Lonely Planet guide as "good family fun if you immerse yourself in the whole tacky spectacle".
But James Gilbert, ELDC’s communications team leader, who commissioned the idea, said the campaign said that view was 30 years out of date
“We want to challenge people’s perceptions and showcase the amazing art, culture, dance, theatre and music that is staged in the town,” he added.
“These adverts are highlighting alternative views, we hope to entice people into having a look at what Skegness has to offer.
“Obviously, Brighton and Blackpool attract more visitors than Skegness and we are not seeking to insult anyone who lives there or visits there.
"We are not trying to upset anyone, it's a bit of friendly rivalry," he said.
Skegness is hoping to get publicity for an "amazing summer of events", which includes So Festival and the Olympic Torch Relay on 27 June.
But Claire Smith, from the guesthouse and hoteliers association Stay Blackpool, said it was a "dirty tricks" campaign.
She said: "Skegness is a lovely little place and this campaign isn't drawing me in, in fact it's making me think about Blackpool and Brighton.
"It is difficult times. Blackpool has an abundance of stuff going on all summer as well, as I am sure Brighton has, but I don't think this campaign is the way to attract visitors," she said.
Both Skegness and Blackpool are featured in a TV advertising campaign to encourage Britons to take their holidays at home in 2012.
Skegness once relied on The Jolly Fisherman with the slogan “So bracing” to promote the town in reference to the chilly north-easterly winds that whipped the beach off the North Sea.
A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Good luck to them. It’s slightly hard to tell what they’re getting at, however.
“As Brighton is widely known as a successful, buzzing, cultural place, with England’s biggest arts festival, claiming to be dissimilar is a strange strategy.
“But if Skegness wants to remind thousands of people that Brighton is here, that’s fine.”
Former Brighton city council leader Mary Mears said: “There’s a big difference between the two.
“Those people that visit Skegness maybe would not want to go again whereas we get lots of repeat customers in Brighton and Hove.”
Robin Morley, of Brighton-based Magnetic Events, is directing So Festival later this month.
He said: “I do have cross loyalties as Brighton is my home but have worked with East Lindsey council for three years.
“I think the advert shows Brighton and Hove has two sides to it, like any town or city.”
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
The calm before the 'once in 50 years' storm: Forecasters predict major flooding as huge low sweeps in from the Atlantic - Daily Mail
- Emergency services issue a 'major flood' alert in the South-West and Wales as Atlantic front sweeps in
- After a dry spell yesterday and today, downpours and gusts are set to return with a vengeance tonight
- Environment Agency issues two warnings where flooding was expected and 12 where possible today
- Temperatures up to 10C below normal and sunshine down 60 per cent in worst June since records began
By Daily Mail Reporter and Paul Sims
|
Batten down the hatches. Another storm threatens to wreak havoc across the country.
Nearly two inches of rain – more than half the average for the entire month – is expected to fall today and tomorrow.
The latest deluge could lead to further flooding across large parts of the country after recent heavy downpours, forecasters warn. And that’s not all. Strong winds of up to 60mph are also expected to cause chaos.
Flying high... while they can: Paragliders take advantage of break in the miserable weather over Beachy Head and Eastbourne in East Sussex yesterday
Making the most of it: The paragliders may have to back up they chutes soon, though, as more downpours are sweeping their way across the UK
It's coming: NASA's Terra satellite took this stunning image of the 70mph Atlantic storm at 12.45pm yesterday as it span towards the South-West
The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings – the second-highest level of alert – for the South East and East Anglia and announced a further 12 flood alerts in other areas.
It said its specialist teams would closely monitor river levels and use pumping equipment in the worst-affected areas. The warnings cover 32,500 properties.
This latest storm comes just days after more than three inches, or 80mm, fell in just 24 hours and left homes and roads flooded.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: ‘The heavy rainfall is expected to spread into central and north eastern England on Friday, with heavy showers to follow throughout the day and into Saturday.
'The public should remain vigilant and stay away from swollen rivers and not drive through floodwater.’
The strong winds and heavy rain form part of a bout of low pressure building up over the Atlantic which is set to hit the South West first before spreading across the country.
Met Office forecaster Dan Williams said: ‘Over the next 48-hour period we could see up to 40mm (1.5in) of rain in those areas. Across high ground, particularly Snowdonia, we could possibly see 80mm (3in).
‘There’s been a lot of rain over southern England and Wales over the past week or so and the ground is pretty saturated, so that’s obviously going to be a factor when we get further rain. It could cause quite a few problems.’
He added: ‘This area of low pressure is moving in from the South West, bringing with it heavy and persistent rain and strong winds. We could get gusts of up to 60mph.’
Enjoying the final few glimmers of sun: With yet more rain and stormy weather forecast, Freya Kirkpatrick , 4, takes a last chance to play in the sunshine with her dog, Monty, in a giant field of ox eye daisies on the edge of Blithfield Reservoir near Rugeley, Staffordshire
Weather Channel forecaster Leon Brown said: 'There’s a 50 per cent possibility of extreme downpours seeing over 80mm of rain in 12 hours in south and east Wales, which is a once-in-50 years event.
'The greatest intensity of rain will be early Thursday night and again on Friday daytime. Overall, up to 110mm is expected in Wales in just over 48 hours to midnight Saturday.
'This rainfall will be widespread across river catchment areas and could completely overwhelm rivers downstream. There is a high risk of flooding, with situation made even worse by ground being saturated from previous rain this week.'
MeteoGroup forecaster Julian Mayes said: 'We cannot find a period of June weather worse than this month since records began. For a 12-day period, it’s as bad as it can be.
'There’s no parallel with this month’s combination of very high rainfall, very low sunshine and very low daytime temperatures.
'The outlook is unsettled and although we don’t yet know for sure if it will be the wettest June, it’s well on the way.'
Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said its 650 firefighters and 100 support staff were ready to take flood action.
A spokesman said: 'Ourselves, the police and county council are monitoring the weather forecast and will take appropriate action when needed. We have vast experience dealing with flooding, in particular floods which devastated Cornwall in November 2010.'
Calm before the storm: The sky above the Queens tennis club on day three of the AEGON Championships in London hint at what is to come
Enjoy it while it lasts: For much of yesterday, however, the sun was trying to come out, but the reprieve will only be temporary, forecasters warn
When 80mm of rain fell in 24 hours in west Wales last Friday, 150 people were rescued and 850 relocated as 5ft floods swept through caravan parks and villages.
Government forecasters predicted 15-20mm of rain today, plus 70-100mm over higher ground in 48 hours from midnight, with 30-50mm on lower ground.
The Weather Channel forecast more than 100mm on higher ground and warned of a 'major flooding event.' Rivers running off higher ground will fill rapidly.
The Met Office forecast wind gusts to hit a gale-force of 55mph-60mph on coasts in the South-West tomorrow.
Other parts of the UK will escape the worst of the conditions, with up to an inch of rain across tomorrow and Saturday, with 35-40mph gusts, the Met Office said.
The storm will peter out by tomorrow night, to be followed by sunshine and showers on Sunday.
Who says the weather's bad? Two girls from Oregon in the U.S. enjoy ice creams on one of the bridges that straddle the village of Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire
Sunshine after the rain: A young lady takes advantage of the weather in a deckchair in St James's Park, London, yesterday before the downpours sweep in
Gusts on the horizon: The flags in Parliament Square, London, were blowing more vigorously yesterday, indicating that the expected high winds of up to 60mph could soon be upon us
The Met Office said it was too early to say whether this month was on course to be the wettest June on record, beating the 2007 figure of 136.2mm. The average June rainfall is 72.6mm.
Despite the torrential conditions, the Met Office said the UK was still below its average rainfall for the year. Between January and May, 392.5mm of rain fell across the country, compared with an average of 439mm.
Nevertheless, temperatures have been miserable for many. Forest Row, East Sussex, only reached 10.7C on Tuesday, almost 10C below normal for June.
Sunshine is down 60 per cent so far this month, with England and Wales averaging just 30 hours’ sunshine. June normally sees 178 hours’ sunshine.
Although there have been heavy showers in parts of the South West, Wales and the North West, parts of the country which were on flood alert after days of heavy rain were given breathing space this week with clear skies in the South East and London.
The break in the weather came as three of the UK’s biggest water companies announced they would lift hosepipe bans, imposed to deal with drought, following weeks of heavy rain.
Thames Water, Anglian Water and Southern Water were to remove the restrictions in place since early April from yesterday.
Seven water companies across southern and eastern England brought in hosepipe bans after two unusually dry winters left some groundwater supplies and rivers as low as in the drought year of 1976.
The Environment Agency had urged people in Devon, Cornwall, west Somerset, North Wales and parts of the Midlands to remain prepared for the possibility of floods as the Met Office issued a weather warning for heavy rain.
Underwater: The ford near Charvil, Berkshire, which flooded to a depth of 6ft after heavy rain hit parts of the UK. Temperatures are up to 10C below normal and sunshine is down 60 per cent
At one point yesterday the agency had five flood warnings in place for rivers where flooding was expected, and 21 less serious flood alerts.
There were also 17 flood alerts, mainly in East Anglia and the South East.
Today, that had been downgraded to two warnings where flooding was expected and 12 where it was possible over the next 12 hours.
Sussex Police, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and council officers said they evacuated people from flooded homes in the village of Elmer, near Bognor Regis, after reports of flooding of up to 6ft in some homes.
Inflatable boats were used to reach 250 vulnerable homes, knocking on doors and searching properties to make sure people were safe and received the help they needed, a Sussex Police spokesman said.
MeteoGroup said that the highest rainfall had been at Culdrose in Cornwall, where 16mm fell, with 13mm in Nantwich, Cheshire.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Rain returning after brief respite - The Independent
After a dry period of respite for many parts of Britain yesterday, the wet weather will return this evening and get worse going into tomorrow as a slow-moving area of low pressure brings thundery showers and strong winds.
Many parts of the country will be affected by rain as the system moves north, with winds of up to 55mph in parts of the South East and East Anglia, according to MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association.
The Environment Agency said: "The concern is now for Friday and Saturday when the forecast is for heavy rain."
Although there have been heavy showers in parts of the South West, Wales and the North West, parts of the country which were on flood alert after days of heavy rain were given breathing space yesterday with clear skies in the South East and London.
The break in the weather came as three of the UK's biggest water companies announced they would lift hosepipe bans, imposed to deal with drought, following weeks of heavy rain.
Thames Water, Anglian Water and Southern Water were to remove the restrictions in place since early April from today.
Seven water companies across southern and eastern England brought in hosepipe bans after two unusually dry winters left some groundwater supplies and rivers as low as in the drought year of 1976.
The Environment Agency had urged people in Devon, Cornwall, west Somerset, North Wales and parts of the Midlands to remain prepared for the possibility of floods as the Met Office issued a weather warning for heavy rain.
At one point yesterday the EA had five flood warnings in place for rivers where flooding was expected, and 21 less serious flood alerts.
There were also 17 flood alerts, mainly in East Anglia and the South East.
Sussex Police, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and council officers said they evacuated people from flooded homes in the village of Elmer, near Bognor Regis, after reports of flooding of up to 6ft in some homes.
Inflatable boats were used to reach 250 vulnerable homes, knocking on doors and searching properties to make sure people were safe and received the help they needed, a Sussex Police spokeswoman said.
MeteoGroup said that the highest rainfall had been at Culdrose in Cornwall, where 16mm fell, with 13mm in Nantwich, Cheshire.
Forecaster Tom Tobler said the bad weather at the end of the week could bring strong winds but not as strong as those experienced last week.
PA
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Sussex farmer uses digger to clear travellers from land - BBC News
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Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Rusty ready for Sussex t20 debut - Lewes Today
FAST bowler Rusty Theron is set to make his debut for Sussex this evening when the Sharks open their T20 campaign against Hampshire Royals under the floodlights at Hove.
After Tuesday night’s scheduled T20 game at Kent Spitfires was rained off, tonight’s meeting at the PROBIZ County Ground starts at 7.10pm where both South African Rusty and Scott Styris will be making their FL t20 bows in Sussex colours.
26 year-old Theron was delighted to completing a deal that will see him play in all of Sussex’s Twenty20 games, writes James Herd: “I’m thrilled to be here. I came here about five years ago to play some club cricket and really enjoyed my time.”
Theron played for Brighton and Hove at club level five years ago, a factor that played a big part in his decision to join the Sharks. “It’s amazing looking back, it’s gone full circle.
“I came here as an amateur player and five years later I come back an international player and the overseas pro for Sussex.”
“I love the city, I love the people and along the way I’ve made some really good friends.”
Having played this format of cricket all over the world, including the IPL, Theron is well aware of the challenges of playing in a different country: “I think it will be a different experience. I went to the West Indies, Australia, New Zealand and it’s been five years since I’ve been here in England.
“The first time I came here, it was quite an adjustment. For me it’s about settling down as quickly as possibly.
“There’s so much cricket these days you don’t have a whole lot of time to settle down. We were in India the other day, now ten days later I’m in England. You just go with it, you can’t do much about it.”
The openly excited seamer was keen to highlight the progress of the younger players as reason to look forward to the upcoming challenge: “I’m excited to see how the younger guys go, in Matt Machan, Will Beer and Ben Brown. There are some really exciting young players coming through.”
It was somewhat of a false start on Tuesday night when the Sharks’ opener with Kent Spitfires was abandoned at Canterbury without a ball being bowled so tonight will be the first action in this season’s tournament for both sides.
Sussex have named an unchanged squad from earlier in the week for tonight’s televised encounter.
The full squad: Amjad Khan, Will Beer, Ben Brown, Joe Gatting, Murray Goodwin, Chris Liddle, Matt Machan, Chris Nash, Scott Styris, Juan Theron, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy.
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Print this pageSource: www.sussexexpress.co.uk
Tesco pays £10m for 91 per cent stake in WE7 - menmedia.co.uk
Tesco has paid £10.8m for a majority stake in an online music venture founded by Cheshire entrepreneur Steve Purdham and rock star Peter Gabriel.
The supermarket chain has acquired a 91 per cent stake in internet radio service WE7, which has a catalogue of 11 million songs that users can listen to for free, with advertisements played at the beginning of each track.
Tesco said it would buy the remaining shares within weeks.
The move follows Tesco's acquisition last year of online movie service blinkbox and is part of a strategy to offer new ways of accessing digital entertainment.
Mr Purdham was chief executive of SurfControl, a Congleton-based internet security company, until its sale for £201m in 2007.
He founded WE7 with £5m backing in 2008.
Mr Purdham said: “With its loyal customer base, numerous marketing channels and international reach, we believe Tesco is the perfect partner to bring WE7’s music services to a wider audience. Tesco has been an innovator in entertainment retailing for many years and we look forward to continuing this innovation digitally.”
The service is available via the internet and a smartphone app.
Tesco said it plans to launch additional digital music services from the WE7 platform in the coming months.
Tesco digital director Mark George said “Tesco is already one of the UK’s largest retailers of CDs. This move will help us offer a greater choice for the growing number of customers who want to access music instantly on any device, whenever and wherever they want.”
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Source: menmedia.co.uk
Tesco snaps up digital music platform We7 for £10.8m - Brand Republic
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Tesco is investing further in entertainment with the £10.8m purchase of We7, a digital music service backed by former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel. We7: snapped up by Tesco We7 offers a free personalised internet radio service and has a library of 11 ...Source: www.brandrepublic.com
Tesco buys We7 online radio station - The Guardian
Tesco has bought We7, the internet radio station co-founded by Peter Gabriel, for £10.8m as it bolsters its internet offer with movie and music streaming services.
Billed as like "having a personal DJ", the website lets listeners create a personalised radio station by picking the artists they want to listen to. Last year the grocer bought movie streaming service blinkbox.
Tesco is already of the UK's largest retailers of CDs and its digital director Mark George said: "This move will help us offer a greater choice for the growing number of customers who want to access music instantly on any device. We7 has a great team and a good technology platform from which we can launch a range of digital music services in the future."
Although free to use, like its rival Spotify, We7 makes money from advertising. Listeners can choose from a library of 11m songs.
Tesco said it had bought a 91% stake and would buy the remaining shares in the coming weeks. The major supermarkets are looking to cash in on the digital entertainment market with rival Sainsbury's snapping up a 64% stake in online digital book retailer Anobii earlier this week.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
I paraded naked in Tesco on killer legal high - The Sun
Shamed Katie Wilson, 19, said after cops raced to arrest her: “They thought I was a heroin addict.
“I’m horrified the drug made me become something I’m not.
“I was parading through the Tesco aisles like a catwalk diva.
“It was terrifying. I had chewed a pen so it looked like I had black teeth — and I had drawings all over my body.”
Shop worker Katie, who describes herself as a respectable BMW driver, took the “legal high” called Benzo Fury at a pal’s home.
She found herself TRASHING the flat, STUMBLING up the road — then cavorting STARKERS at the Tesco in Bourne, Lincs. When cops arrived she karate-kicked one in the face — before booting the patrol car’s wing mirror off as she was taken away in cuffs.
Last weekend the same £10 drug — which can be bought on the internet — killed Alex Herriot, 19, at the RockNess music festival in Scotland.
Katie, of Deeping St James, Lincs, admitted outraging public decency and criminal damage at Grantham Magistrates’ Court. She got a conditional discharge and £200 fine.
Katie warned those tempted to try the drug: “It can do you real damage. I don’t want others to make the mistake I did.”
Source: www.thesun.co.uk
I honestly do not understand why people who live elsewhere come on these sites to crow about how great it is where they live. If it was that great why are they reading this?????? Also those who don't like it here are quite free to go and live elsewhere, or am I missing something? Our Weather is the most interesting in the World, it's rare to have more than two weeks of the same type of Weather, plus the position we are in makes it very hard to forecast any Weather at all. My Son lives in Spain but is coming home soon. He hates working when most of the year it's around 38c. As he says "It's great for a Holiday, but try working in it for 2yrs". Yes, I am Sun starved like the rest of us but this is why it is a "Green and Pleasant Land".
- Sparks, london, 15/6/2012 02:31
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