A business in the north west of the island says changes to this year’s TT qualifying schedule have forced it to close for the entire festival period.

The Dovecote Tea Room on Main Road in Kirk Michael announced the decision in a post on social media, saying it would be unable to operate during both practice and race week because of road closures linked to the event.

The tea room, which sits on the TT course, said it has previously attempted to remain open during qualifying week where possible, but the revised schedule for TT 2026 has made that ‘impossible’.

In a Facebook post, the owners said: ‘Sadly due to this year’s racing schedule and our proximity to the course, we will have to close for whole of practice and TT week.

‘In previous years, we’ve always tried to open where we could in practice week but this year’s schedule makes it impossible to prep for and viably open the tearoom whilst navigating all the scheduled road closures and contingency days.’

The business confirmed it will close at the end of trading on Saturday, May 23 and will not reopen until Thursday, June 11.

This year’s qualifying schedule differs slightly from previous years, with additional daytime qualifying sessions planned during practice week.

On Wednesday, May 27, roads around the Mountain Course are due to close from 12.30pm until no later than 4.30pm for an afternoon qualifying session before closing again after 6pm for evening qualifying.

Following a rest day on Thursday, May 28, another double qualifying session is planned for Friday, May 29, with roads closing from 10am until later than 4.30pm. There is no evening qualifying session scheduled that day.

The Dovecote Tea Room ended its message by wishing visitors and residents a safe TT period.