Buses on the Isle of Man are not fitted with winter tyres during periods of adverse weather.

That’s the message from Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer who was quizzed on the issue in Tynwald this week.

He said moving to winter tyres would create 'significant additional cost for next to no benefit'.

This, he said, was due to winter tyres wearing quickly when used on roads that are not snowy or icy.

Mr Harmer told the court that the cost of fitting and removing 450 tyres each time bad weather was forecast would be 'prohibitive' – as would the cost of storage for the items.

He said: "Despite the challenges, gritting the roads so that every road user can use the highway is a far better way to spend taxpayers’ money than swapping buses on and off winter tyres.

"Even if the cost to the taxpayer was not the concern, a bus with winter tyres would all too soon be stuck behind a car without them."