ST GABRIEL'S Primary School's nursery will reopen for the rest of the week at Wallyford Primary School, East Lothian Council has announced, as "more work is still required" to repair gas mains there.

Following the evacuation of children and staff from the school and nursery in Prestonpans due to a gas leak, the facilities have been closed since last Tuesday, while two nearby houses have also been vacated.

On Monday, the council confirmed arrangements for this week for pupils at the primary school, with youngsters split between the Pennypit Centre, nearby Preston Tower Primary School and Cockenzie Primary School 

READ MORE: St Gabriel's Primary School could be closed all week

A council spokesperson said: “St Gabriel’s nursery will reopen tomorrow within Wallyford Primary School.

"Children will be supported by the St Gabriel’s nursery team, as well as our central early years colleagues. Arrangements have been shared directly with families by headteacher Mr Buchanan.

“While alternative venues within the Prestonpans area were considered, the facilities at Wallyford are best suited to caring for young children and delivering a quality early learning and childcare experience for them.

“To minimise disruption for parents and to make this as easy as possible for them and their children, we will be operating a shuttle bus from St Gabriel’s Church Hall for those that need it. Parents or carers can accompany their child on the short journey in the morning to Wallyford and will then return to Prestonpans.

"At the end of the nursery day, the St Gabriel’s team will safely accompany children back to St Gabriel’s Church Hall where they can be collected by parents. The church hall will be open to families at either end of the day so they can be comfortable while they wait.

“Normal drop-off and pick up times apply for families who don’t need to use the bus, with additional flexibility given that we know families may be dropping off siblings at other locations.

“The alternative arrangements for both nursery and primary school will be in place for the remainder of this week.

"We are in continued contact with SGN about the works they are undertaking and to understand what this means for when we will be able to return to St Gabriel’s building. We will inform parents as soon as we can.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for SGN said they were working "as quickly and safely as possible" to solve the problem.

They said: “We’re continuing emergency repairs to our gas network in South Grange Avenue, Prestonpans.

"Our engineering teams have made progress and carried out a repair on our gas main; however, more work is still required.

"It’s still too early at this stage to say how long our work will take to complete.

“Safety is our number one priority, and the affected properties will only be reoccupied once it is safe to do so.

"We’re in regular contact with everyone that’s been evacuated to keep them updated.

“We're working as quickly and safely as possible and will remain on site until our work is complete.”