Borough of Wyre

This article is about the district in Lancashire. For the district in Worcestershire, see Wyre Forest District.

Wyre is a local government district with borough status on the coast of Lancashire, England. The council is based in Poulton-le-Fylde and the borough also contains the towns of Cleveleys, Fleetwood, Garstang, Preesall and Thornton, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Some of the borough's built-up areas form part of the wider Blackpool urban area. Eastern parts of the borough lie within the Forest of Bowland, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Wyre
Borough and non-metropolitan district
From left to right Top: Fleetwood from across the Wyre Esturary Middle: Poulton-le-Fylde and Garstang town centres Bottom: Thornton-Cleveleys seafront with Blackpool in the distance and Preesall coastal path on the Wyre Coast
Wyre shown within Lancashire and England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	North West England
Ceremonial county	Lancashire
Founded	1974
Admin. HQ	Poulton-le-Fylde
Government
• Type	Wyre Borough Council
• MPs:	Lorraine Beavers, Cat Smith
Area [1]
• Total	109 sq mi (282 km2)
• Rank	125th
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	114,809
• Rank	210th
• Density	1,100/sq mi (410/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [3]
• Ethnic groups	List 97.5% White 1% Mixed 1% Asian 0.3% other 0.2% Black
Religion (2021) [3]
• Religion	List 59.8% Christianity 33.7% no religion 5.1% not stated 0.4% other 0.4% Islam 0.3% Buddhism 0.2% Hinduism 0.1% Judaism 0.1% Sikhism
Time zone	UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code	30UQ (ONS) E07000128 (GSS)

The borough is named after the River Wyre, which runs through the area and meets the sea at Fleetwood. There are no road or rail connections between the parts of the borough either side of the Wyre estuary, and it is necessary to cross the neighbouring Fylde district in order to travel between the two parts of Wyre, or else use the Wyre Estuary Ferry between Fleetwood and Knott End.

The neighbouring districts are Blackpool, Fylde, Preston, Ribble Valley and Lancaster.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a non-metropolitan district covering the territory of five former districts, which were abolished at the same time:^[4]

• Fleetwood Municipal Borough
• Garstang Rural District
• Poulton-le-Fylde Urban District
• Preesall Urban District
• Thornton-Cleveleys Urban District

The new district was named Wyre after the River Wyre.^[5] The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.^[6]

Governance

Wyre Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Mayor	Steve Nicholls, Conservative since 15 May 2025[7]
Leader	Michael Vincent, Conservative since 1 December 2022
Chief Executive	Rebecca Huddleston since 1 April 2023[8]
Structure
Seats	50 councillors
Political groups	Administration (27)   Conservative (27) Other parties (23)   Labour (15)   Reform UK (4)   Independent (4)
Elections
Voting system	Plurality block voting
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Civic Centre, Breck Road, Poulton-le-Fylde, FY6 7PU
Website
www.wyre.gov.uk

Wyre Borough Council, which styles itself "Wyre Council", provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council. Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[9][10]

Political control

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 1999.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Since 1974 political control of the council has been as follows:^[11][12]

Party in control		Years
	Conservative	1974–1995
	Labour	1995–1999
	Conservative	1999–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Wyre. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2010 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Russ Forsyth[13]		Conservative		Mar 2010
Peter Gibson[14][13]		Conservative	Mar 2010	28 Sep 2017
David Henderson[15][16]		Conservative	7 Dec 2017	30 Nov 2022
Michael Vincent[16]		Conservative	1 Dec 2022

Composition

Following the 2023 election,^[17] and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:^[18]

Party		Councillors
	Conservative	27
	Labour	15
	Reform UK	4
	Independent	4
Total		50

The next election is due in 2027.^[18]

Elections

See also: Wyre Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 50 councillors representing 24 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.^[19]

Wyre straddles three parliamentary constituencies: Wyre and Preston North, Lancaster and Fleetwood and Blackpool North and Cleveleys.^[10]

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Centre on Breck Road in Poulton-le-Fylde. The building was originally a large house called Woodlands, later serving as a convalescent hospital and teacher training college before becoming the council's headquarters in 1988.^[20]

Towns and parishes

Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Fleetwood, Garstang and Preesall have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council".^[21] The former urban districts of Poulton-le-Fylde and Thornton-Cleveleys form an unparished area.^[10]

Civil parishes in the Borough of Wyre

1. Barnacre-with-Bonds
2. Bleasdale
3. Cabus
4. Catterall
5. Claughton
6. Fleetwood (town)
7. Forton
8. Garstang (town)
9. Great Eccleston
10. Hambleton
11. Inskip-with-Sowerby
12. Kirkland
13. Myerscough and Bilsborrow
14. Nateby
15. Nether Wyresdale
16. Out Rawcliffe
17. Pilling
18. Preesall (town)
19. Stalmine-with-Staynall
20. Upper Rawcliffe with Tarnacre
21. Winmarleigh

Fleetwood

Poulton-le-Fylde

Thornton

Cleveleys

Garstang

Bilsborrow

Bleasdale

Bonds

Bowgreave

Calder
Vale

Carleton

Catterall

Churchtown

Claughton

Dolphinholme

Eagland Hill

Forton

Great Eccleston

         Hambleton

Inskip

Knott End

Nateby

Oakenclough

Out Rawcliffe

Pilling

Preesall

St Michael's-on-Wyre

Scorton

Stalmine

Winmarleigh

Fair Snape Fell

Hawthornthwaite Fell

Parlick

Towns, villages and hills in the Borough of Wyre          Forest of Bowland AONB

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Wyre.

• Doreen Lofthouse: 13 June 2003.^[22][23][24]
• The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 12 April 2018.^[25][26]