UK prime minister Boris Johnson has proposed connecting England, Scotland and Northern Ireland via tunnels connected to a giant underground roundabout beneath the Isle of Man.
The roundabout, nicknamed the Douglas Junction after the Isle of Man's capital, would be accessed by two tunnels from England, one from Scotland and one from Northern Ireland, reported The Times.
It is envisaged by Johnson as a way to improve links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK post-Brexit and follows his backing of a single 40-kilometre-long crossing from Stranraer in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland in 2018.
Tunnels would meet below Isle of Man
If built, the Douglas Junction would be connected to Belfast in Northern Ireland, Stranraer in Scotland, and Heysham and Liverpool in England. It would be built below the Isle of Man ? a large island in the Irish Sea that is located between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.
According to The Times, the tunnel system and roundabout were suggested as the plan avoids crossing  Beaufort's Dyke ? a trench where ammunition from the second world war was dumped.
This 50-kilometre-long fissure is cited as one of the main hurdles to building the single crossing between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The conduction of a feasibility study for the latest plan is expected to be given a green light in the next few weeks, however, the idea has so far been met with scepticism.
Proposal "does not sound credible"
This includes comment...