Douglas Council has confirmed that North Quay in Douglas will be pedestrianised for sixth months a year.

They have voted to use a ‘Traffic Regulation Order’, to close the street when there is good weather from April 1 to September 30 with a sign to warn drivers.

The section of North Quay between the junctions at Ridgeway Street and Market Hall will be inaccessible to traffic, as well as the lane between Market Hall and The British Hotel.

This is the fourth year that the North Quay closure has taken place since the Department for Enterprise first introduced the pedestrianisation as a trial in the summer of 2020.

However there are differences this year.

Andrew Bentley, Councillor for Douglas, said: ‘The principal difference this year is that the closure is only at weekends to minimise inconvenience for the optician while allowing maximum trading opportunity for the hospitality businesses.

‘The legal mechanism for the closure is now the same as that used in Castletown Square. ‘This means that the road is closed when the sign is out and should allow greater flexibility to close the road on bank holidays and TT week or keep the road open when there’s a poor weekend weather forecast.

‘The closure affects 120 yards of lightly trafficked road, and access to the former bus station site is still possible via Market Hill.

‘The closure has proved popular with local patrons, particularly on Friday evenings, as well as with visitors during TT and when Bury AFC played FC Isle of Man.’

‘In an ideal world we would like to rotate the quay about 30 degrees clockwise to take full advantage of the evening sun from the west, however, with current budget constraints this is unlikely to take place anytime soon.’