Coastal path to be closed for coastguard training

A section of the coastal path will be closed over consecutive weekends

A coastal path near to the Isle of Man Airport runway is to be closed for two weekends for coastguard training.

Walkers will not be able to access a section of footpath from Café Bar 26 to near Turkeylands Quarry in Ballasalla on 24 and 25 June, and 1 and 2 July.

The closure on each day will be between 09:00 and 18:00 BST.

The infrastructure department said the rope training was required to have an up-to-date rescue plan in case of an incident on the rock armour, and "to adhere to the airport’s licensing requirements".

'Crucial'

A spokesman for the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) said there was "no safe way to allow public access" during the sessions as equipment would lie across the path.

The sessions by Lyon Work & Rescue, who provide rope rescue training to emergency services across the UK, will teach crew members about new access procedures and equipment.

It will include rescue scenarios where teams have to safely access casualties in various locations among the rock armour and recover them to safe ground.

The extension of the airport's runway using the rock-armoured promontory was completed in 2011.

The DOI spokesman said any airport near to water or challenging terrain was required to include specialist rescue support that could handle the specific risks within its emergency plan.

"Since the rock armour area poses difficult terrain, the airport emergency plan requires support from its emergency partners, such as the coastguard, police, fire and medical services, to assist and enable rescue operations," he said.

It was therefore "crucial to undergo periodic specialised training" to prepare for such situations, he added.

Established in 1989, the Isle of Man Coastguard is made up of five teams of volunteers, based in Douglas, Castletown, Port Erin, Peel and Ramsey.