A major step has been taken to address the nursery place shortage in an Aberdeen community.
Kingsford School, which also caters for nursery pupils, has now been expanded, meaning it can offer more places.
Aberdeen City Council has installed a prefabricated cabin on the grounds of the Sheddocksley school, which means the nursery has capacity for 80 children – double what it could offer previously.
The decision was taken to extend the nursery over the summer to help reduce the lengthy waiting list for places, which has become an increasing problem in recent years.
Council teams have worked to ensure the new facility can be opened in time for pupils starting back today.
Sheddocksley councillor Len Ironside, who is the vice-convener for education and children’s services, said he was sure the move would address the long-standing capacity issues.
He said: “We are planning for a phased start at that time in anticipation that we will have all of the necessary registration and safety systems in place.
“We have written to families, who made Kingsford their first choice, but had not yet been allocated a place.
“The demand for places has been a problem for some time and now we have finally been able to take action.
“It’s a very popular nursery and has a great reputation, as soon as we were aware there was an issue we took it on board.”
Mr Ironside’s fellow ward councillor Steve Delaney added: “I’m delighted to see this development taking place.
“There’s been a shortage of nursery places in the area for quite a number of years so I’m glad this has taken a step forward.
“This now means parents in the area have more choices for their childrens’ future.
“For as long as I can remember there’s been a problem there, I think there’s been only half of the children whose parents have applied have actually managed to get places – this is a huge boost for the area.”