Victoria Park in Southport has now reopened to the public, after safety concerns caused by damage wrought by Storm Arwen over the weekend.
Sadly, 20 trees at the historic park were destroyed by gale force winds as staff and volunteers made the area safe and cleared up the debris.
Victoria Park is run by a registered charity, Southport Flower Show, which maintains the park at no cost to local Council Tax payers.
The park is currently hosting the Winter Light Trail event by Luminate, which had to be cancelled on Friday night due to the bad weather. The event has now resumed.
A Victoria Park spokesperson said: “The park is now back open after being closed due to safety concerns.
“Unfortunately due to the storm we lost 20 trees over the weekend – heartbreaking.”
Luminate issued a statement about Friday night’s cancellation, which said: “We have taken the decision that in the interests of the health and safety of our guests and staff, it was best for our event not to proceed on Friday night.
“We apologise for the disappointment that this will cause, but our absolute priority is the safety of our guests and staff.
“We will send you a further email with step by step instructions on how to transfer your ticket to another night so that you do not have to miss out on your Luminate experience and further information generally about how to contact us should you need additional support with this.”
Storm Arwen caused considerable damage across Southport on Friday and Saturday, with buildings damaged, toppled trees blocking roads and events cancelled.
The Met Office has issued a Yellow Weather Warning For Wind in the Southport area, with a Yellow Weather Warning For Snow across inland areas of England.
Southport FC postponed its match against Darlington on Saturday, with the fixture now due to be played on Tuesday.
Saturday’s Southport Parkrun was cancelled after a number of trees were blown over in Hesketh Park.
On Friday night, Tarleton Bypass was shut after the wind blew down a lamp post across the Southport-bound carriageway near the Banks roundabout.
The Formby Bypass was also shut in both directions on Friday night after a tree was brought down in Ince Blundell.
If you know of any more incidents, please either message me or post into our Stand Up For On Friday afternoon, Tulketh Street in Southport town centre was closed as firefighters attended to wind blowing off part of the roof of one of the stores.
Strong winds also ripped off rooves of garages behind Sandown Court on Albert Road.
The wind brought down trees, blocking access, on roads including: Albert Road, Argyle Road, Cypress Road, Haig Avenue, and Scarisbrick New Road.
Homes across the region suffered power cuts, including in parts of Scarisbrick.
The storm also saw the postponement of Friday night’s Switch On of the Christmas Lights on Bispham Road in High Park.
Damage was caused to a number of trees and to a wall at Botanic Gardens in Churchtown.
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