Car hire firms are in a battle to survive in the island because of plummeting business caused by the Covid-19 crisis and border restrictions.

That was the message from garage boss James Mylchreest who said vehicle rentals have fallen this year.

He was speaking as another business called Isle of Man Rent a Car announced it was closing its doors. It said: ’Whilst we have explored all realistic avenues to continue trading, unfortunately we have run out of time. It has been our absolute privilege to have served the island’s visitors for the last 27 years, and we have been grateful for each, and every one of our customers.’

It blamed loss of custom due to the pandemic, the island’s border policy and lack of funding.

Mr Mylchreest, managing director of family firm Mylchreests, said the car hire side of the family business was probably facing its biggest challenge in five decades.

Mr Mylchreest told the Manx Independent: ’We are very sorry to hear what has happened to Isle of Man Rent a Car; although we were competitors we had a good relationship with them.’

He added: ’There is no question that things are difficult at the moment on the vehicle hire side.

’But we are in this to survive. Hopefully restrictions will be lifted by next Easter.’

He said in a normal year, Mylchreests, which acts as an agent for Avis, with a desk at the airport, can expect to run an 80-strong fleet at peak time around the time of the TT Festival, and around 30 cars for much of the year.

The company has kept its place at the airport but has reduced its fleet of hire vehicles, however Mr Mylchreest said he was grateful for government support to keep on staff.

He said because of the border restrictions, they had lost business from visitors and corporate customers although things did pick up a little when Guernsey visitors touched down in the island.

Mylchreest was now offering special reduced car hire rates for island residents.