Merge local authorities, convert the heritage train tracks into cycle lanes and ’stop the £7m a year hand-out to rich farmers’.

These were among some ideas posted by the public on the first day of an on-line portal set up to seek ways of saving government £25m a year.

Entitled ’Your services, your money, your ideas: our future’, the innovative hub went live on Tuesday and within the first 24 hours already had more than 80 suggestions.

Accessed by the government website at www.gov.im/save, it will be open for submissions until May 14.

Middle MHK and Treasury member Bill Shimmins MHK, who chairs the government’s SAVE team, said: ’I’ve certainly been heartened by the response already.

’We wanted to do it over a relatively short period of time but six weeks gives everybody an opportunity to contribute.

’This is the first time government has done this although it has been used very successfully by a number of large organisations in the UK.’

But shouldn’t it be for our elected politicians to come up with the ideas?

Fellow member of the Save team, Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper said: ’We are not experts in everything. Among our staff and the public there are experts and it’s right that we ask them what we could be doing.’

And David Ashford, Douglas North MHK, said in the past politicians had taken decisions to cut services without taking into account the knock-on effects.

The three members of the Save team will be holding drop-in sessions around the island this month.

Every idea suggested will be looked at by the team and sifted ahead of proposals being brought to CoMin in July.

All departments have been asked to come up with ’big ticket’ suggestions to help meet the £25m target over the next five years. Public servants are also being asked for their input through a staff-only ideas hub similar to the one open to the public.

So what of the ideas so far? One contributor suggested reducing colour photocopying would save £10,000 a year.

A post from Castle Rushen High School said the radiators are set too high and cannot be turned down: ’It is unbearably hot. Ridiculous waste of money.’