A senior Douglas councillor is calling for the demolition of the Chester Street car park in Douglas.

Councillor Ritchie McNicholl says the facility, which is run by Douglas Council and was built about 40 years ago, is no longer fit for purpose.

His comments come after Shoprite announced it was closing the supermarket on the ground floor of the building on Saturday.

Mr McNicholl told Manx Radio: ’There are three spaces between each pillar and people don’t like that because when you get out, you bang the door against the pillar.

’We don’t get a lot of income from Chester Street car park as it is because a lot of it is given over to government for employees to park, and also Shoprite had the first two floors.

’Now I think government has the perfect opportunity with Shoprite moving out to demolish that.’

In today’s Manx Independent, the Department of Infrastructure responds to Shoprite’s complaints of a lack of investment in the town.

The paper also reports news of a new restaurant and take-away opening in a prominent position in Douglas and an MHK says why the island should favour development in urban areas rather than build in the countryside.