A Douglas business owner says she feels like she’s been released from prison camp after fencing was removed from Queen’s Promenade for the TT.

All major work on the £25 million scheme is stopping during the festival fortnight, and the Department of Infrastructure said it hopes this will mean residents and TT fans can use the prom ’with as little disruption as possible’.

Sharon Kenny, owner of pet grooming company Vanity Fur, said she felt she had been ’released from prison’ when the fencing was taken away and stated it was as if ’a weight had been lifted’.

While much of the fencing has been removed for the TT, a 400 metre section remains between Castle Drive and Switzerland Road.

Vicky O’Dell, owner of Christopher’s Dry Cleaners on Castle Mona Arcade, which remains behind fencing described the fencing as ’caging’ and said she felt like she was ’in a prison camp’.

’We feel we are caged in all of the time,’ she said.

During TT, there will be motorbike parking on both Queen’s and Harris promenades.

Extra parking is available at the Bottleneck car park after Hooded Ram brewery had to cancel its plans for seafront entertainment.

And the Tevir Group has agreed to create a temporary disc zone parking area on part of its Castle Mona Hotel site.

A shuttle minibus from the Sea Terminal to Summerland will not run during TT and will only begin again on June 10.

Horse trams are being trialled on the new track but will initially run only a short length of 500 metres from Strathallan to Switzerland Road during the TT fortnight.

Ms Kenny is worried she will lose out on sales of her specialist TT products for pets because fans will have difficulty parking nearby.

She understood why the three-year project was happening but said that ’the manner’ in which it was being done was unacceptable.

’I’ve been pretty upset for the last four months. Every customer who comes in says the same thing to me, they say "it’s a nightmare",’ she added.

She expressed her distress at seeing fewer customers due to the promenade works and watching other businesses impacted.

’We all try and help each other. I’ve been here for nine years, I’ve built a business.

’I’m losing 50% on sales,’ she said.

The Inglewood Hotel, at Palace Terrace on Queen’s Promenade, is fully booked for TT but staff are worried where their guests will park.

No waiting or stopping is permitted on the walkway or highway on that section.

Complaints

A spokesman said that while the works have been underway she had often struggled to ’calm guests down’ after they struggled to find a parking space close to the hotel.

The hotel owner had been messaging her guests before they arrived to warn them of the situation.

There had also been constant complaints from guests about the disruption.

The hotel has seen a 50% reduction in visitors in the last year.

She said: ’That’s the minimum. It’s frustrating that we’re losing business.’

Christopher’s Dry Cleaners has seen a 39% fall in customers since the work started.

Staff are now working a four-day week as a result.

Ms O’Dell said it was ’unnecessary’ and ’too ambitious’ for the government to dig up the ground outside her establishment.

Sue Dobinson, owner of St Helier’s Guest House on Central Promenade, isn’t worried for TT trade because her guest house welcomes the same guests every year for the event.

She said the main impact of the work on her business had been the loss of parking.

’The work’s got to be done but they’ve made it more difficult than they need to,’ she added.

She claimed she was in a state of disbelief when the government took away the pedestrian crossing outside their guest house. ’

It’s horrendous,’ she said.