Edinburgh's Princes Street reopens for Christmas

The street had been closed to all traffic since February

Edinburgh's Princes Street has reopened to traffic two-and-half-hours later than scheduled due to torrential overnight rain.

The street had been closed since February for work on the city's new tram system. It will not have to close for future tram work.

The street was due to open at 0530 GMT on, but bad weather caused a delay.

Mandy Haeburn-Little, an Edinburgh Trams spokeswoman, said everyone worked hard amid appalling weather conditions.

Ms Haeburn-Little added: "We are very grateful for the hard work of everyone involved in ensuring that Princes Street was ready for opening this morning - it has been a superb team effort.

'Monumental phase'

"We would also like to thank the public, retailers and other stakeholders for their patience over the past months."

Jenny Dawe, Edinburgh City Council leader, said: "As the first physical on-street presence of the tram scheme, the track laying along Princes Street was a monumental phase in the project.

"There has been a major collaborative effort to work with the business community throughout the works.

"We listened when they said they wanted work to continue through August to ensure completion for the Christmas shopping period and I am pleased that this has been delivered."