Port Erin Commissioners is looking at putting on a drone show instead of a fireworks display later this year.

The local authority was provided with a quote for £9,000 from a UK company to put on a ‘fully personalised’ drone display in the village, as a potential alternative to the traditional fireworks Bonfire Night displays.

The drone idea was proposed by Commissioner Karl Drinkwater – who said a grant would also be available from the Department for Enterprise which would cover 80% of the cost.

For the last four years, the local authority has skipped hosting a fireworks display in the bay on November 5, with the last being a ‘low noise display’ in 2021.

Chair Hannah Mackenzie said her only concern is the fact that there was no provision for a display in its 26/27 budget.

She added that it would be dependent on how much funding could be obtained from government grants.

Also on the agenda at Port Erin Commissioners’ latest meeting were requests from two neighbouring local authorities to use its traffic cones for upcoming community events.

Mrs Mackenzie said the commissioners had been told that the government is no longer providing cones for events and instead it was up to the organisations to source them.

Commissioner Gerry Callister said he would be happy to lend them to the other authorities but only if they were marked as belonging to Port Erin, while concerns were also raised about potential clashes with the other events.

It was agreed by the board that the cones would be lent out once event dates had been confirmed between all parties.

Port Erin Commissioners will next meet on Tuesday, May 12.