Work has been completed on Douglas seafront’s controversial new sea wall.

Contractors were off-site in time for last week’s VE Day commemorations at the Cenotaph.

Work started last summer on the new wall which replaces the old railings along a 500m stretch of the Promenade from just south of the Douglas War Memorial on Harris Promenade to a point opposite the Empress Hotel on Central Promenade.

When the scheme was originally proposed in 2018 the cost was estimated to have been £500,000.

But the price tag rose to £900,000 - £1,800 a metre - with a dramatic increase in the costs of labour and materials being blamed.

Planning consent (19/00755/B) was approved on appeal in May 2020, having previously been refused by the planning committee.

But the consent expired on May last year, and months after construction began, the scheme had to be retrospectively - and reluctantly - approved by the planning committee.

Acting chairman of the Isle of Man’s planning committee Peter Young said he would support the application ‘with a heavy heart’ as ‘I don’t like the damned thing.’

The wall has been constructed from cast in-situ reinforced concrete with decorative surfaces that mirror the features on the existing concrete pillars.

It is 1.2m (3ft 11ins) high, but its design allows for a future increase in the height by up to 0.6m should it be necessary.

The wall is to feature a series of artwork panels designed by local artists.

In October it emerged that cracks had appeared in some panels, with the Department of Infrastructure saying it was working with the contractor to resolve the problem.

Planning approval has also been granted to replace a further section of railings with the new sea wall between the Sea Terminal and the TT Cafe.