The Roads Policing Unit and Officers from the Douglas Neighbourhood Policing Teams are in the process of working on the arrangements for this event taking place on the afternoon of Friday 22nd October 2010. The funeral is expected to attract a lot of interest and the Constabulary would like people to think about their parking arrangements in order to attend the funeral or otherwise pay their respects. Additional parking is being negotiated with the Department of Infrastructure and is likely to be situated at The War Memorial in Douglas although this is very limited availability. People are asked to avoid the area of St Georges Church in vehicles and there will be traffic wardens on duty to ease congestion. If people can plan ahead and use other forms of transport available such as the bus services then this should ease congestion and allow the funeral to take place with the dignity and respect that this occasion deserves. The route for the cortege will travel down Summerhill, along the Promenades, Finch Road and Hill Street. It will not be progressing beyond Greensills Corner and will turn right at the junction with Harris Promenade. There may well be some disruption to the traffic in these areas at the time (between 1.25pm and 2.00pm) and road users are asked for their understanding in this. After the service, family and invited guests are attending a private function at the Sefton Hotel. Sir Norman’s bar remains open for members of the public and a book of condolence for Sir Norman will be available in the bar. A Police spokesman said “We thank people for their cooperation and we would like to keep disruption down to a minimum. They can do this by planning ahead and helping by thinking about where to park. There will also be cones placed out for the media in Hope Street for the media attending the event and would appreciate it if people would respect these and find alternative places to park. I would suggest that good places for people to congregate to pay their respects would be at Greensills Corner and along the length of Douglas Promenade. However on any weekday parking is at a premium so people attending to pay their respects need to consider this. I would also expect motorists to respect the cortege in the traditional manner of not overtaking it and slowing down when approaching from the other direction.” ENDS