BUBBLES is to be bulldozed as soon as possible following the failure of an 11th hour rescue bid.

Tourism chiefs say they have run out of options for the water-based leisure complex and must act soon to get the site ready for the summer season.

The Dome is to be kept open but Bubbles and the outdoor pool will be razed to the ground.

A Blackpool-based company, Manor House Inns, had offered to take over the troubled leisure complex but they were rejected after it emerged they were asking for a £300,000 subsidy, a 99-year lease and a £50,000 annual contribution.

After throwing out the rescue package, leisure chiefs said their only option was to send in the bulldozers.

"Manor House Inn's proposal was the last resort and it just didn't stack up," said tourism chairman, Cllr Paul Morris.

"We can't afford to see Bubbles sit there for another year. We had no confidence in the proposal, the amount of money they wanted us to spend was enormous."

Cllr Tricia Heath said: "To even consider accepting this proposal would have been foolish in the extreme. The decision had to be demolish as quickly as possible and move forward with an attraction on that site."

With Frontierland and now Bubbles biting the dust, there are growing concerns that tourists will have nothing to do when they arrive in Morecambe.

Now bosses have set their sights on taking the resort upmarket and the idea of a marina has resurfaced.

Cllr Heath added: "The possibility of Government or European funding for a marina should be fully explored as soon as possible. We feel the best way forward with this site is to form a regeneration partnership which would include the Bubbles site, the Winter Gardens and maybe the Midland Hotel. A major regeneration plan will be published shortly for the whole district."

Morecambe Hotelier, Graham Last, had hoped to see Bubbles stay open but after listening to the proposals he too accepted that they were too expensive.

"We've got to accept that it's too late to save Bubbles now and it's probably best if it goes," he said.

"But what we do need somewhere in the resort is a wet area - that's essential. Morecambe still has a long way to go before it gets back on its feet."