Aye, aye skipper!

The Pleasure Beach company is seriously interested in First Leisure's sale of its resorts division, zeroing in on South Pier and Blackpool Tower.

Mr Thompson says he would like to enhance the Tower's historic stature - but it is at South Pier he would let his imagination run free.

"I see it like an ocean liner, with a glassed dance-floor across the sea so the dancers can glide across the floodlit waves," he told the Citizen.

"At the moment South Pier is a wasted opportunity - they're treating it as a land-based attraction rather than sea-based."

He would also like to run the Pleasure Beach monorail over to the pier, linking the two sites across the promenade.

First Leisure announced the sale of its resorts division two weeks ago, including not only Blackpool Tower and three piers but the Winter Gardens complex, Savoy and Clifton hotels, Eastbourne Pier and Trecco Bay Caravan Park in Wales.

Since then, Mr Thompson has spoken several times to First Leisure executive chairman Michael Grade and consulted his bankers.

However, it is understood the Pleasure Beach is not interested in the Winter Gardens, outside assets or hotels, having future plans for a hotel of its own.

Last month an unnamed venture capital company was reported as making a bid of £120m for the resorts division.

Other possible contenders are the Rank organisation or even a management buy-out.

Should First Leisure be interested only in selling off the whole of the resorts division, Mr. Thompson said the Pleasure Beach would be interested in buying the Tower and South Pier from the new owners.

Blackpool MPs Gordon Marsden and Joan Humble want assurances that First Leisure will fulfil its promise to update the Winter Gardens conference centre so that the Labour Conference can return after 2001 - and to ensure the historic features of the Tower and piers are maintained.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.