A major scheme to refurbish and upgrade two of the island’s historic lighthouses is due to get underway next week.

New LED lights are being installed at Douglas Head and Maughold lighthouses which the Northern Lighthouse Board says will provide significant savings and require less maintenance.

The scheme involves removing equipment for the optic and operating system installed when the lighthouses were automated.

And in the case of Maughold Head, it will see the decommissioning of its historic Fresnel Lens. This will no longer rotate and will be covered in fabric to protect is from the sun.

NLB said the ’magnificent’ 1st Order Fresnel Lens will be retained in a static position ’so it can be seen as part of the heritage of the station in years to come’.

Two new LED Optics will be located forward of the historical lens. They will provide a 15 mile light and will be seen as a whiter light.

At Douglas Head, the current lamps will be replaced with two new LED Optics which will have a range of 18 nautical miles and again will provide a whiter light.

At both lighthouses, temporary lights will be set up while the work is carried out, operating at the same frequency but with a reduced range. Subject to weather conditions, the scheme should be complete by mid-March at Douglas Head and by the end of that month at Maughold Head.