The infrastructure minister has said he is ‘not hopeful’ the horse trams will run this season.

In a sitting of Tynwald this morning, Tim Crookall explained that there had been ‘considerable difficulty’ in securing materials to finish the tramway that runs along Douglas Promenade.

He said: ‘I’m very disappointed there is not a definite delivery date so I am not able to provide a date for completion.

‘I am not hopeful there will be horse trams running this year.’

Mr Crookall added that the department should know by the end of this week if the trams will run or not as it is currently waiting for the set of points, originally ordered in January of this year, to be delivered.