New blow for Britain's worst seaside town rated 'drab' and 'rundown' as its main shopping centre goes up for sale at knockdown price
The historic Welsh resort of Bangor took the unwanted number one spot on the Which? survey of worst seaside town in Britain earlier this month, scoring just 42 percent and being given one-star ratings for food, shopping and tourist attractions.
And in a sign of the former Victorian resort's slump its premier shopping centre - the Menai Centre - is up for sale at just a fraction of the cost of building it.
In a Which? survey posted in early May, Bangor came off the worst with an approval rating less than half of the nation's best beach town - Bamburgh Castle in Northumbria - which had an approval rating of 86 percent.
Other towns suffering the label of being some of the worst for a beach getaway in Britain include Southend-on-Sea, Skegness and Clacton-on-Sea.
However, Bangor was praised as a good base for visiting the 'fabulous' scenery and coast of North Wales.
Photos from the town show virtually no footfall outside of the summer season, with the town's main shopping centre now being offloaded too.
It is particularly noticeable as the town has the longest high street in Wales, and is also the oldest Welsh city.
The label shows how far Bangor has fallen since its heyday, with historic photos showing hundreds of people gathered to watch the opening of the pier during the Victorian period in 1896.
Even as recently as 30 years ago, the area was still a beloved hub for tourists and holidaymakers, and even featured in a popular song by folk group Fiddler's Dream in 1979 named Day Trip to Bangor (Didn't We Have a Lovely Time).
The song made it to number three in the charts and secured the band's place in history as a one hit wonder.
It was also later mired in controversy after it was claimed the song was actually inspired by a trip to nearby Rhyl - but Bangor was used in the title due to it having an extra syllable.
But its 'shopping dream' precinct - developed in 2007 and cost £18.5m to build - is now listed for auction with a guide price of just £4.2million.
The centre once housed High Street fashion retailers such as Debenhams and H&M, but they left during the pandemic and the centre is now 80 percent vacant.
Among the shops left include a Greggs, The Original Factory Shop, and Hays Travel, as well as a cocktail bar.
A health centre is set to open in the former Debenhams store funded by the Welsh Government, which is hoped will attract footfall - but that unit is not part of the sale.
The 130,000 sq ft building was bought by Bearmont Capital - run by Rob Lloyd - in 2023 and is listed for auction with property giant Savills in a two stage bidding process.
Savills said: 'The property is arranged over ground and one upper floor and arranged as 19 separate units. It comprises 64,321 sq ft of retail and leisure space.
'Tenants include JD Sport, Cafe Nero, Hays Travel, 3 mobile, Superdrug and Greggs amongst others
'Each shop benefits from their own street frontage. The Shopping Centre has no communal atrium, thus minimising the common parts. To the rear is a service yard.'
Savills say the current annual rents paid by tenants add up to £508,000.
Explaining the bidding process, a spokesperson said: 'In stage 1 potential purchasers will be invited to place bids via a set deadline. These offers will then be considered by the client and a best and final offers may be called.
'Should an offer meet the clients requirements a successful bidder will be selected and a sale will take place via an auction contract, which will be signed immediately along with receiving a 10 per cent deposit. The property will be deemed as 'sold prior to auction'.
'If no stand out bids are received or bids received are of a similar value then a reserve price will be set on the property and it will be sold via a live online auction (date to be determined subject to Stage 1 of the process).'
The stage one bids close on June 10.
After receiving the title of worst seaside town in Britain, Bangor City Council said: 'It's disappointing to see Bangor City named as one of the UK's worst seaside towns. Such rankings often fail to capture the full picture and the unique charms that make Bangor City so special.'
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