Work to install overhead and underground cables for Edinburgh's trams is to begin today.

Contractors will work to hang power wires overhead and pull miles of cables and communication lines through underground ducts around the city centre. A testing phase will then be carried out once it is completed to prepare the system for service next year.

The work will be carried out in stages, with overhead cables being installed at the junction of Broughton Street and Picardy Place from 10pm today to 5am tomorrow, while from tomorrow, the road between South Charlotte Street and South St David Street will close as work to install cables over Princes Street is carried out over four nights.

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The underground cables will be installed from next Monday to Saturday 13 July, with contractors undertaking the work during the night.

Transport Convener at Edinburgh City Council, Lesley Hinds has described the work as the "final major piece in the construction jigsaw".

Initially, the trams were planned to run from Edinburgh Airport to Newhaven in the north for £545m but the system will now terminate in York Place in the city centre at a cost of £776m.

(JP/CD)