Demolition of properties has begun on the site earmarked for the Westmoreland Village scheme.

Among the first former business premises to be tackled is that of the Quickfit car repair centre which is now reduced to little more than a steel frame.

The James Caine carpet warehouse, meanwhile, has had its windows removed ahead of full demolition.

Blue hoardings have gone up around those houses and other premises destined to be reduced to rubble.

Manx Development Corporation, an arm’s length government-owned company set up to revitalise brownfield sites, has spent more than £2m buying up property to make way for Westmoreland Village scheme.

Householders and businesses have previously claimed they have been put under pressure to sell up.

But despite demolition now getting under way, MDC still doesn’t own the whole of the site earmarked for the major redevelopment scheme.

The owners of number 44 Westmoreland Road, home to Ellan Vannin Chiropractic Clinic, have not agreed to sell up - and the blue hoardings have been erected next to its driveway.

Bordered by Demesne Road and Westmoreland Road, the Westmoreland Village scheme will comprise 133 new homes split across apartments, town houses, small blocks of flats and a senior living block.

It also includes a new scout hut/community pavilion, and refurbishment and extension of Crookall House as offices.

MDC’s application was approved for a second time by the planning committee in May despite continuing concerns about parking, landownership and affordable housing.

The planning committee first approved its application (23/00291/B) by the narrowest of margins in February, with it being carried by the casting vote of the chairman.

In May it went back before the planning committee which heard it had not been possible to complete a legal agreement that was a condition of the consent because MDC had been unable to acquire the whole site.