Douglas carnival cancelled due to promenade refurbishment

This year's Douglas carnival has been cancelled "with regret" due to the promenade refurbishment scheme, the town's council has said.

The event has attracted several thousand people since its 2014 revival.

Proposals to combine the carnival with the annual Noble's Park fun day were rejected by Douglas Borough Council's executive committee.

The event will be re-launched to mark the completion of the promenade works in September 2020, said councillors.

Although there were no objections from the government's event safety group to the relocation of the carnival to Noble's Park, the executive committee said it raised "potential issues".

Roads around the park are narrower than the promenade carriageway and concerns were raised about "large floats passing through residential areas".

Instead, efforts would be made to enhance this year's annual Noble's Park fun day, which will be held in August, said the committee.

The £25m refurbishment of the promenade, which started in September 2018, is scheduled to take two years.

Regarded as the island's gateway close to the ferry terminal, the regeneration will see changes to roads and footpaths but the historic horse trams will remain.

While the Department of Infrastructure said it aims to keep the road open to traffic during the works, some diversions are in place.