The Imperial Lighthouse Service was the official General Lighthouse Authority for the British Empire. This was with the exception of England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, which were under the authority of Trinity House. The Imperial Lighthouse Service came under the control of the Board of Trade and was responsible for the provision and maintenance of navigational aids such as lighthouses, lightvessels, buoys in all colonies of the British Empire. With the end of the British Empire most of these light houses were taken over by the newly independent countries and the Imperial Lighthouse Service stopped its operations by the late 1970s.