Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan has apologised for the way the moving of a bank holiday was communicated.

It was confirmed on a Tynwald order paper that the Senior Race Day bank holiday would be cancelled this year following the axing of the 2020 TT.

After the decision was confirmed by Chief Minister Howard Quayle, a petition to reinstate the bank holiday was created which gained thousands of signatures in a matter of hours.

It was later confirmed that the bank holiday was being moved to August 28 to create a four day weekend to coincide with the already scheduled August bank holiday on August 31.

In a letter to Tynwald members, Mr Cannan said: ’I recognise that some members of the public were upset with the manner in which this has been communicated and I can only offer my sincere apologies in that respect.

’It is too early to expand further on how we might choose to enhance this extended weekend to maximise the benefit to the community and the domestic economy, but I do hope that our reasoning for this move is better understood.’

We will have more coverage of this story in tomorrow’s Examiner available in shops and online.