The future of Rally Isle of Man hangs in the balance after the government threatened to pull the plug over safety concerns.

Douglas East MHK Chris Robertshaw had tabled an emergency motion to today’s Tynwald sitting but withdrew it after race organisers arranged to meet the Department of Infrastructure to address the concerns.

That meeting is due to take place on Thursday and follows a decision by the department not to issue a road closure authorisation for the rally.

It’s just eight weeks before the event, which is part of the British Rally Championships, was due to be staged in the island.

In a letter from the DoI to the Council of Ministers, circulated to Tynwald members today, the department said it had ’unfortunately and reluctantly’ come to a conclusion that Rally IoM is not ’competent to organise a safely run event’.

It said this conclusion came after many years of trying to help the Rally address issues that ’appear to be symptomatic of a struggling organisation’.

The DoI said there had been ’repeated failures of processes and procedures designed to ensure safety during the event’.

It said numerous issues and concerns had been raised in recent years and there has been significant problems in 2017, when ’indeed standards may well have deteriorated’.

The DoI said said information and documents were not supplied and it was put in an ‘unsatisfactory position of having to provide race authorisation at the last minute’.

And it warned there could be a serious incident involving a member of the public or spectator.

Rally IoM chairman John Gill said: ’The DOI have written to us (the Rally Isle of Man organisers) to inform us that they have concerns and as a result are not prepared to approve the route at this time.

’We have arranged a meeting with them on Thursday of this week to discuss their concerns, and we hope to reach a resolution that will allow the event planning to progress.

’It would be inappropriate to comment further before that meeting takes place.’