Ingoldmells near Skegness like a 'ghost town' with 'nobody around' - what is happening to our popular UK seaside towns, as we see them decline

The Skegness tourism board posted on Facebook that on 8pm on Wednesday night (4 June) that in Skegness’s neighbour, the village of Ingoldmells, it “really felt like December… ABSOLUTE GHOST TOWN nobody is around”. The post added: “WHERE ARE YOU ALL?!? Wish we could rewind a few years before Covid-19 there would be people wandering everywhere, now… there is nobody!”.

The post has gained near 100 comments of users explaining why they are no longer visiting the once-popular area. One said: “Too many fights down there, every season theres always some big incident & 9 times out of 10 it involves someone getting stabbed”.

Another said: “Probably because there isn't much to do there now other than fantasy island everywhere else shuts at 5pm.” In the same vein a third user echoed: “Used to go there for the market bit, but now most of the stalls are cheap looking designer clothes. And no bookmakers there now. I ask myself.. do I want to pay a fiver to park there!”.

Others blamed cost of living, not having enough money to visit, and the prices at Skegness increasing. One said: “Would love to come to Skegness right now but sadly we can’t afford it as the cost of living is so high right now. We even take a yearly trip in January but sadly couldn’t even afford that this year either”.

Another added: “Ingoldmells businesses are basically killing themselves, so many of the pubs, and places to eat are going insane with the price increases. It used to be that Ingoldmells was cheaper and more family accessible than Skegness itself, but over the last couple of years it's going the other way.”

Skegness was slammed as the UK's worst seaside town in a 2023 Which? survey and didn't fare much better in 2024, when it came fifth from bottom in the ranking. But it used to be one of Britain's most alluring seaside destinations. In 2011, the town was England's fourth most popular holiday destination for UK residents.

It has seen a rapid decline - but it isn’t the only UK seaside town that is slipping downwards. Sandown in the Isle of Wight is also being slammed, as recent reviews describe a dilapidated town centre.

One TripAdvisor user called it the "worst seaside" in the UK. The user wrote: "Sandown used to be a beautiful place. Now it is full of derelict hotels and the High Street is full of derelict shops.”

A user on Reddit defended the town saying: "Sandown makes me feel a little sad when I go to the high street, but to be fair it's got a lovely beach and some great walks, good parks, dinosaur hunting and rock pooling." The decline of England’s seaside resorts is an issue - and one that is garnering more attention.