A new mural has been painted by a crafty group of swimmers by the beach in Onchan.

The Manx Bluetits, a community group on the island who take part in a number of sea swimming sessions, regularly use Port Jack beach as one of its meeting points.

But members of the group were shocked to find that the large wall facing the sea on the beach had been defaced with graffiti - prompting them them to contact local commissioners.

Janet Gilmour, a member of the Manx Bluetits, said: ‘I contacted our local commissioners last year and up until recently nothing had been done.

‘I contacted them again this year and they responded and painted the wall grey to cover the graffiti.

‘Whilst swimming we discussed painting a mural on the wall.

‘Our Manx Bluetit administrator on the island contacted the UK Bluetit organisation and obtained permission for us to use the Bluetit logo.

‘Our local commissioners gave us permission to paint the wall and a local company paid for the paint and some brushes.’

Ms Gilmour said the group acquired the services of a local designer to design the mural before members began painting.

‘Her design was agreed, but we wanted a seal in it as we regularly see a seal whilst swimming,’ she said.

‘She met us and drew out the design and then left us to it to paint it.

‘We started painting this in August, with several of the Bluetit members helping to make this possible.’

The mural was officially unveiled at Port Jack beach on Monday, September 18, with the Lieutenant Governor’s wife Lady Lorimer attending.

Ms Gilmour added: ‘We had a huge surprise as Sian Richardson, the lady who initially started the Bluetit cold water swimming movement in the UK, came over to the island to be with us for a swim at 1:30pm and then stayed for the official opening.

‘Sian said that this is the first mural with the Bluetit logo included and she was delighted.

‘This mural has sparked a lot of interest so far and we think it will be seen by visiting cruise ships and other vessels from afar in Manx waters.

‘I hope everyone agrees that this is a much better view than the one we used to look at!’