Port St Mary harbour has reopened after fire crews identified the contents of a barrel which was washed up in the area.

It appeared to be leaking a green liquid, and the area was cordoned off in the interest of safety.

Using a special piece of equipment, two fire officers were able to identify the liquid as anti-freeze and it was safety removed.

A spokesman for the emergency services said in the past it would have taken much longer to bring such an incident to a conclusion, because it would have been necessary to send a sample of the liquid to a laboratory for analysis.

The new equipment meant inconvenience to the public was kept to a minimum.