Digital switchover dates released

Whitehaven was the first town in the UK to switch to digital

Dates for the switchover to digital TV in part of Scotland, the Isle of Man and Cumbria have been announced.

Manx residents will be transferred to digital from 18 June when analogue signals begin to be turned off at the Douglas transmitter, Digital UK said.

Almost all areas of Cumbria, together with south-west Scotland, will start switching six days later, with signals turned off at the Caldbeck transmitter.

Last year Whitehaven in Cumbria led the way as the first town to make the move.

It was recently announced that the Scottish border area would switch on 6 November this year.

John Askew, Digital UK's regional manager in the border region, said: "Whitehaven shows that the switchover works."

A survey by the company and media regulator Ofcom revealed that more than half of the homes served by the Caldbeck transmitter had already converted to digital TV sets.