THE major new works to the East Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, as part of a revamp of the National Galleries of Scotland, will continue into the summer.

The creation of a new path, and landscaping which involved the controversial removal of mature trees from the city centre public park, was due to finish this spring.

East Princes Street Gardens are now scheduled to re-open for the start of the 2019 Festival in August.

Currently the gardens are inaccessible to the public, as building work continues.

A statement from the NGS said: "The new accessible path will greatly help those with mobility impairments, wheelchairs and prams.

"Without this new path, the east gardens would remain accessible only via steep gradients or the flight of stairs.

"The creation of the path and the landscaping has been a complex engineering feat which has taken slightly longer than programmed.

"The intention was to complete the works by Spring 2019 and the NGS team and contractors have been working very hard to complete the works as close to that as possible."

After the completion of the work in the park, the revamp of the NGS site will be "largely focused on the interior and grounds of the Scottish National Gallery."

It added: "The public will have access into East Princes Street Gardens and the Mound precinct as normal.

"To enable excavation works to the galleries directly beneath, the Playfair Steps and walkway, at the rear of the Scottish National Gallery, will continue to be closed for the duration of the building work."

The Edinburgh Marathon in May will still run through East Princes Street Gardens and the Mound: a route will be cleared.

Twenty two new trees will be planted.

A further 30 will be planted, the NGS has said, in other areas of East Princes Street Gardens, West Princes Street Gardens, Lauriston Castle and Saughton Winter Gardens.

John Leighton, director general of the National Galleries of Scotland said: "I want to extend a big thank you to the residents and visitors of Edinburgh during the construction works in East Princes Street Gardens.

"We apologise for any inconvenience and we appreciate you bearing with us whilst we make these transformative changes.

"As previously announced, the overall project is on schedule to be complete in early 2021.

"By then we will be ready to reveal an amazing new suite of galleries, bursting with light and colour with new views out into Princes Street Gardens.

"Previously only one in six visitors found their way to the dark and tucked away Scottish Galleries, so this will transform the presentation of the world’s greatest collection of Scottish art."