A street party will be held in Foxdale on Saturday night to celebrate the village’s main road re-opening ending nine months of disruption.

The celebrations are being organised by the licensees of the Baltic Inn and will take place outside the pub from 6pm until 9pm.

The party will include a bouncy castle, a raffle, food, ice cream and a play area for children.

Department of Infrastructure minister Ray Harmer, who will be attending, said: ’I am delighted the works will shortly be completed next week. I wish to thank everyone for the patience. The street party is a brilliant idea and is a wonderful example of how the community comes and works together.’

The roadworks began in October last year and are set to be completed on Wednesday, August 2.

The Department of Infrastructure will be putting the finishing touches to the scheme over the next few days by completing resurfacing work.

The original start date for the roadworks was delayed seven weeks to accommodate changes to the layout of the Mines Road junction.

It was scheduled to finish in mid-August but the completion date was brought forward to August 2 after highway chiefs extended working days, introduced weekend shifts and increased manpower.

Work has included laying of more than 500 metres of highway drainage, installation of 500 metres of telecom ducting, installation of 500 metres of new water main and service connections, and installation of 500 metres of new gas main.

The road opened during the TT period but was then closed again to complete the work.