Southport & district · Local news you can trust
A former Formby High School teacher is banned from classrooms for life, with no right to ask for it to be lifted. The decision was published on 16 September.
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Southport
Southport Aviary Closure Faces Scrutiny on 15 September
Sefton councillors review the Botanic Gardens aviary closure on 15 September, and one of the four welfare groups backing the closure has withdrawn support.
Southport
Maureen Fearn, Southport Councillor for 33 Years, Has Died
Flags fly at half mast for Maureen Fearn, Kew ward councillor from 1983 to 2016 and Mayor of Sefton three times. Council and Lib Dem leaders pay tribute.
Southport
Southport Remembrance Sunday: 8 Nov, Lord Street Shut
Remembrance Sunday falls on 8 November 2026. In 2025 the parade left Wesley Street at 10.20am and Lord Street shut from 10am. 2026 timings are due in November.
Southport
Southport Santa Grottos 2026: Dates, Prices, Free One
Five Santa visits near Southport this Christmas, from a free walk-in grotto at Southport Market to a £26.50 farm adventure and a boat ride to Santa's island.
Southport
Southport Halloween 2026: Half Term Is 26 to 30 October
Sefton half term runs 26 to 30 October and Halloween falls on a Saturday. Pumpkin picking from £12, a £15 market party, and half-term theatre from £16.
Planning
Santa's Secret Forest Ince Blundell: 21 Nov, Five-Year Bid
Santa's Secret Forest opens on 21 November at Ince Blundell. A new application asks Sefton for five years, and comments close on 25 September.
Victoria Park
Southport Fireworks 2026: 26-27 September, Seats Still Left
Six firework teams compete at Victoria Park on 26 and 27 September. General admission is £14.56, the seated area £28, and both nights still had tickets.
Victoria Park
Southport Comedy Festival 2026: Six of 18 Shows Already Gone
Seventeen nights in a marquee at Victoria Park, 2 to 18 October. Six of the 18 shows are already gone, and Sunday trains stop short of Liverpool from 11 Oct.
Southport
Southport Christmas Lights 2026: Switch-On Date Not Out Yet
Southport BID has launched Christmas on a Saturday in mid-November four years running and has not announced 2026. One date is confirmed: The Grand, 7 November.
Southport
Southport Panto 2026: Two Shows, 37 Dates, £28 to £30
The Atkinson's Cinderella runs 4 to 31 December, 37 public performances at £28 to £30 adult. Dick Whittington opens at the Little Theatre on 18 December.
Food hygiene
Sefton Food Hygiene: Every August Rating So Far Is a Five
All 34 inspections published so far for August scored 5, from a Lord Street chippy to Formby's Chapel Lane. No venue in the borough currently holds a zero.
Licensing
Southport Alcohol Bids: Wine Rack, Baltic Store, Zia Pizza
A Birkdale wine shop wants on sales to 11.30pm, an Eastbank Street store wants 6am off sales, and Zia Pizza seeks a licence. Deadlines 11, 15 and 22 September.
Sefton is a long thin borough down the Merseyside coast, and it was deliberately named after a small village so that neither Southport nor Bootle would get the credit. The council still runs offices at both ends. Southport is at the top, with Birkdale and Ainsdale below it, then Formby and Freshfield, then Blundellsands, Crosby, Waterloo, Litherland and Bootle facing Liverpool, with Maghull inland.
Southport Today reports what the record shows across that coast, with Southport and Formby at the centre of it. Planning decisions, licensing, council spending, crime figures, sold prices. Sefton Council publishes the evidence and we go through it, linking to the document each time.
Every fact carries a link to the source it came from.