A permanent replacement for the TT scoreboard won’t be in place in time for TT 2023.

Enterprise Minister Lawrie Hooper told the House of Keys this week that construction would be put on hold as now isn’t the right time to ‘get it up and running’.

He said: ‘Designs for a replacement scoreboard in keeping with traditional setup but augmented with some additional functionality have been completed and planning permission secured.

‘Given the critical budget pressures around the organisation of the TT and across motorsport events more generally, together with the cost of living challenge faced by many island residents, I believe in light of the estimated seven-figure cost that construction of a new TT scoreboard should be put on hold until such a time it can be funded appropriately.

‘This unfortunately means that a permanent replacement for the TT scoreboard will not be in place for TT 2023. However, it is intended that the setup used for this TT with digital screens can be replicated again in 2023.’

He added that the planning permission should last for four years, which allows time before the structure has to be built. The previous scoreboard, a mobile structure, was incorporated into the permanent structure in the late 1980s. It required a large team to keep it updated during each race.

Its condition gradually deteriorated to the point that significant works were carried out in 2018 to extend its operational life.

The DfE conducted a consultation in 2019, after which it was decided the scoreboard would be dismantled and replaced with a new one due to the steel structure being almost completely corroded and the wood having gone rotten. This year, video screens displayed the new live television broadcast for fans as a solution.