Sections of the new parades to the North and South of St Chad’s headland will be opened up, allowing advanced access for the summer. Other sections of the promenade will also then be opened up as the works continue.

The work at the Central Seafront is a £73m coastal protection scheme funded by central Government, the NWDA and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The project is being led by ReBlackpool.

Cllr Maxine Callow, cabinet member for Tourism and Regeneration, said: “The multi-million pound scheme along Blackpool’s famous promenade is both replacing our 100-year-old seawall with state-of-the-art coastal defences and transforming the seafront into a desirable, modern place to explore and really making the most of showcasing our beach.

“The new sections feature the finished sand-coloured concrete and not the temporary grey tarmac surface used on St Chad’s headland, which has been open since summer 2008. This means visitors to the new sections of promenade will start to really get a feel for the quality of the completed sea defence and of how the promenade expansion scheme will shape up.”