AN EXTENSION to Dunbar Primary School’s Lochend campus has been delayed due to poor weather.

The £8.5 million campus was opened five years ago and is used by the school’s P4-7 pupils, with the original building, on the opposite side of the railway line, now used exclusively by nursery and P1-3 children.

Work on the extension started in July last year and was expected to be complete by Monday.

However, a spokeswoman for East Lothian Council confirmed there had been a slight delay.

She said: “The contract will be extended by about three weeks to take account of a number of issues, in particular, exceptionally adverse weather conditions.

“The application by the contractor for an extension of time is being considered and it is likely that an amended completion date of May 19 will be agreed.”

The new extension will be home to five new classrooms, a meeting room and staff workbase.

Currently, the campus, which is home to 537 pupils, has 18 classrooms but is being expanded as a result of the large development of Hallhill, which will see more than 500 homes built.

In November, a cheque for more than £1.25 million was handed over by Hallhill Developments Ltd, which has been involved in the town for more than two decades, to help fund the scheme.

The money comes from a Section 75 agreement, which aims to empower planning authorities and ensure developments meet the needs of users.

The then education secretary Mike Russell MSP officially opened the Lochend Campus, on Kellie Road, in September 2011. It was built on a greenfield site west of the Hallhill Centre and not far from the existing John Muir Campus on Lammermuir Crescent, where the younger children are still taught.

The decision to maintain one primary school in Dunbar over two sites – instead of building a second, separate primary school to cope with the town’s housing boom – was taken in 2007.