Scottish Water has announced that a £2.5 million project to help reduce sewer flooding in Stonehouse village has reached a new milestone as excavation works begin in the grounds of the local primary school.

During the summer holidays a section of the school car park will be open cut so that larger sewer pipes and a manhole can be installed.

The works – which are being caried out by Scottish Water's delivery partner Caledonia Water Alliance - have been planned to minimise disruption while the school is closed.

This section of the project was reassessed and re-designed after specialist tunnelling equipment ran into difficult ground conditions.

After pipelaying is complete, the school grounds will be reinstated to their prior condition.

Georgina Reid, Scottish Water's Corporate Affairs manager for the west, said: "We were keen to minimise any disruption to the school and it was decided that this section of work would be best carried out over the holidays.

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"However, it is important to note that this is a live construction site, and as always, we would ask parents and carers to remind young children these sites are not playgrounds and to be aware of staying safe."

Scottish Water has been working closely with the school and children have already attended an organised visit to see the tunnelling machine in action and to hear about site safety.

A poster competition was also held, and the winning designs have now been displayed along the site hoarding at the front of the school.

Caledonian Water Alliance Communications Manager Paul Milligan has been working closely with the school. He said: "We would like to thank the headteacher, staff and all the pupils of Stonehouse Primary School for all their amazing poster entries.

"The posters display important information, from site safety and personal protection equipment, to useful tips on topping up from the tap and reducing single use plastic.

"The school has been so engaging and there is a fantastic enthusiasm among the children for learning more about what is on their doorstep."

This next phase of the project requires a road closure on Townhead Street for three months starting Monday 29 August.

Traffic management will be in place and local bus services will be affected. All traffic management arrangement has been agreed with South Lanarkshire Council.

Scottish Water would like to thank road users and residents for their continued patience and understanding during these essential works.

Water supply and drainage services should not be affected.