CONSTRUCTION remains halted at two new Dunfermline nursery sites although Fife Council has been given the go-head to start work at Woodmill High School.

Work on Woodmill was determined as "critical" so the project to get the school back up and running following last summer's fire was given the green light last month.

However, construction at the new Halbeath and Pitcorthie nurseries has not yet been given the go-ahead from the Scottish Government. It's unclear what date work might resume.

The new nurseries were being built to deal with the demand in places because of Scottish Government plans to expand free childcare provision from August.

However, councils are no longer obliged legally to deliver 1,140 hours of funded childcare from the summer as there would have been no way to build the new facilities in time after the construction industry was put into strict lockdown measures.

Fife Council is currently preparing for the next stage of lockdown to be lifted so they can have a clearer understanding on when work might start again.

Raymond Johnston, service manager with the council’s property services, said: “All construction projects were stopped at the start of lockdown including building work on our two new nurseries in Dunfermline.

"However, Woodmill High School was designated as a critical project which is why essential repair work has restarted here.

“The Scottish Government has announced a six-stage recovery plan for the construction industry and we’re currently following stage one – doing everything possible to ensure that all safety/social distancing guidelines will be in place when work restarts on site.

"Once a date for stage two is confirmed, which will see a soft start of construction works, we'll have a clearer idea about when the nursery projects will continue on site.”