BEST-selling Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith has been honoured in a new art installation.

The art wall, part of the new Atria Edinburgh office development, features a quote, carved in Jura stone and 32 yards long, from the Edinburgh-based author in celebration of his many popular books.

It says: "This is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again."

McCall Smith unveiled the legend, alongside the leader of the Edinburgh City Council, Andrew Burns and chief executive Sue Bruce on the new public thoroughfare, Ladyfield. The new walkway connects Morrison Street with Conference Square.

The passage was originally written by the author, who penned the popular No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, as part of a campaign to promote the capital, the world's first Unesco City of Literature.

He said: "I was delighted and honoured to be asked by the City of Edinburgh Council and the Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature Trust if my words could be used on this very prominent wall in the heart of the city.

"If your words are to be set in stone, then you have to be careful what you say. You have to mean it. And I do mean what I say about this magnificent city, of which I am proud to be a citizen and which will always be my home."

Mr Burns said: "Atria's art wall celebrates the work of one of the capital's most internationally renowned authors.

"Alexander McCall Smith is very passionate about Edinburgh and I am delighted that his words, which describe the unique nature of Edinburgh to a tee, have been captured here in stone to inspire generations to come."