It’s an award that might raise a few eyebrows among the residents and businesses who have endured the Prom redevelopment saga.

Highly commended in this year’s Global Light Rail Awards for project of the year under Euro 50m is.....Douglas Bay Horse Tramway!

Renowned as the industry’s Oscars, the award was picked up at a black tie event in London hosted by BBC broadcaster Nicholas Owen.

The highly commended entry ’preserves an important historical legacy and secures a well-loved tourist icon’, according to the awards’ organisers.

They said: ’Threatened with closure in recent years after 140 years of service, a new project to relay the rails along Douglas Promenade not only secures its future but also paves the way for potential extension to the island’s electric tramway service.’

They described the project as ’sustainable’, as it uses rails from the cancelled Merseytram project.

The judges said: ’Taking the horse tramway away from Douglas seafront is as unimaginable as removing the tower from Blackpool.

’We’re delighted to see that its immediate future has been secured and that we may see Manx Electric Railway services on the seafront in the future.’

The award was collected by Alistair Burroughs of Douglas-based civil engineering contractors Burroughs Stewart Associates and UK Tram technical manager Craig O’Brien.

The horse tramway was pipped to the top spot by a line that couldn’t be further removed in technology or geography - a new tramway in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.

There’s a certain irony that the 1.7-mile Newcastle Light Rail scheme was built in just 18 months, opening both on budget and ahead of schedule.

Meanwhile, the Douglas Promenade scheme, in which the horse tramway features a central role, has been dogged by delays and technical problems.

The completion date has now been put back from October 2020 to August 2021.