After many years of planning, work has started on site to build Inverness Campus.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise's (HIE's) contractor, Inverness based Morgan Sindall moved onto the land at Beechwood at the end of last week to start the site set-up, creating a base for up to 250 workers over the course of the project.

From 2015 Inverness Campus will be home to a number of business, education, and community partners including Inverness College UHI, the Centre for Health Science, the Scottish Agricultural College, Albyn Housing Society and the Calman Trust.

Community and sports facilities, as well as opportunities for other research and education partners and business activity will follow.

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Neil Duncan, Area Director for Morgan Sindall, said: "After the site set-up is completed excavators will move onto the site to move the top soil. During this phase we'll be working closely with an on-site archaeologist.

"Within the next month there'll be at least 20 staff on site, employed either by Morgan Sindall or a local sub-contractor."

Ruaraidh MacNeil, Project Director at Inverness Campus, said: "This is a significant occasion for HIE. We are investing in infrastructure development for the Inverness Campus because we believe it is vital for the long term economic growth of the Highlands and Islands. Within the next five years Inverness Campus will become a key location in Inverness, providing state of the art facilities for researchers, businesses, students and the wider community, and bringing great economic and social benefit to the Highlands and Islands."

Morgan Sindall plans to work closely with community councils surrounding Inverness Campus over the coming months to ensure minimum disruption and wide-scale involvement in construction plans.

It is estimated Inverness Campus could attract investment of over £100 million, generating £38 million for the Highlands and Islands economy.

(GK)