A debris catcher designed to prevent trees, branches and other vegetation from causing flooding issues in Laxey has been completed.

Constructed in response to the major flooding incident in October 2019, it has been installed in line with recommendations made in an independent review by Arup.

It said trees that the government failed to move, despite warnings in October 2018, heavily contributed to the flood in lower Laxey.

The catcher itself comprises nine steel columns strategically spaced in the Glen Roy River in Laxey Glen to stop any woodland debris from making further progress and causing problems.

If the debris catcher becomes completely blocked, material will continue to be caught but water will flow around the sides and return immediately to the water channel.

The catcher is being regularly inspected and will be cleared when required. A hard-stand area has been created to enable access for the heavy lifting machinery required to clear trees and branches.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said: ’This administration is committed to implementing all the recommendations contained in the Arup report.

’We must do what we can to avoid a repeat of the incident we witnessed last year, and it’s vital we protect communities to the best of our ability from unfortunate events such as floods.

’While work is set to continue in and around Laxey to enable this to happen, it’s pleasing to see projects of this kind completed and the necessary infrastructure serving its very important purpose.’

On October 2 2019, an estimated 50 tons of woody debris, comprising felled tree trunks and limbs of trees, mostly from Laxey Glen on the Glen Roy River was washed into the watercourse and flowed into the Laxey River where it caught and snagged on a redundant MER weir.

This caused a major restriction to the combined flows of the Laxey River and the Glen Roy, and water levels rose very quickly, bursting the wall on Glen Road and the subsequent flooding.