The West Coast main line is to remain closed until the beginning of March, the ScotRail Alliance has announced.

It is understood the Lamington Viaduct in South Lanarkshire is more damaged than first thought after already deteriorating due to Storm Frank on New Year's Eve.

Although the structure has been stabilised, Engineers have scrapped the original repairs completion date of 01 February and said the crossing will not re-open until the first week of March.

Phil Verster, MD of the ScotRail Alliance, said: "The damage from the floodwaters is significant. We have had to use hundreds of tons of rock to divert and reduce the flow rates at the piers and an extraordinary amount of concrete just to stabilise the second pier.

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"Unfortunately the scale of the damage and the complex nature of the engineering challenges means that the repair is going to take longer than we initially thought."

Engineers will now install additional concrete supports on either side of the second pier to strengthen the structure, before installing additional eight-metres-long rock anchors/mini piles through the pier's foundations to support the structure from a much wider and lower base.

Structural repairs to the third pier will also be completed and the course of the river widened – to reduce future water pressure on the structure – before the steel bearings are replaced, the viaduct bridge-deck realigned and the track re-laid.

(LM/MH)