Douglas Council has agreed to try an ‘updated’ and ‘intensive’ approach to re-profiling the beach.

Re-profiling the beach involves moving material (such as sand and stones) from one part of the beach to another due to natural forces building it up against the sea wall.

A spokesperson from Douglas Council said: ‘Traditionally, the re-profiling has involved dragging the material from the sea wall further down the beach, from whence it originated.

‘This is futile because eventually “mother nature” drags it back up the beach again.

‘The sea wall is not the original beach end, Strand Street is.

'The beach is just trying to get back to its natural end point.’

A report was provided to the local authority at its public meeting earlier this week which suggested the council should buy a bigger excavator to move and deposit sand from the beach.

The spokesperson continued: ‘The approach has been described as “intensive” because bigger, heavier machinery than before will be used and this will be carried out over a two-week period rather than on and off throughout the year.

‘The council is going to trial dragging it from the sea wall and Broadway to the north and south ends of the beach which are traditionally lower through natural wave action.’

The report also said that contractors had been working beyond their hours to clear seaweed on the beach last autumn.

In ‘certain’ weather conditions like high winds, the report stated seaweed had washed back onto parts of the beach and had been left to decompose, leaving a bad smell.

Douglas Council confirmed it won’t be removing vegetation but will instead install signs to ‘educate’ beach users on the different types of native flora and fauna.

Explaining why this is being done, the spokesperson explained: ‘Douglas Council has traditionally removed vegetation on the beach because of complaints about the “weeds”.

‘The vegetation is not just weeds, but a natural food source for animals and humans.

'So the authority will attempt to educate and inform the public about the vegetation so it is not just seen as weeds that should be immediately removed to make the beach look pretty.’

Meanwhile, work is set to begin early this year on raising the Douglas sea wall.

The new wall will replace the existing railings from a point just south of the Douglas War Memorial on Harris Promenade to a point opposite the Empress Hotel on Central Promenade.