The former DWP office at Warbreck Hill Blackpool suffered a large fire during the night on 08/06/24, with extensive damage visible this morning.
Rather poignant for me as I was one of the first civil servants into the building in 1989 - I installed all the data network hardware before people moved in.
Still a current DWP office according to Google maps
They moved out last year - scattered around other offices and working from home pending the completion of a new office in the centre of Blackpool
Video here
That probably explains why the road was closed at the roundabout on Devonshire Road when I drove past yesterday afternoon. There were “rumours” that they were converting it to accommodation for asylum seekers, not sure if there was any truth in that or it was just local Chinese whispers.
Not sure if it is the same site but if that is the Disabled Living Allowance site then I was one of the team of IBM contractors that installed the systems - IBM RISC 6000 boxes and (confusingly) ICL terminals as I remember it.
Living on the South Coast Blackpool was a wee bit of a journey for me but, in the dead of night and foot to the floor I made the 300 miles in just over four hours. In a 1.3 Ford Escort!
Yes, DLA were based there 
