Gas work paused after A9 Enchanted Forest delays

The annual Enchanted Forest sound and light show is held in Faskally Wood near Pitlochry

Work to relocate a high pressure gas pipeline is to be paused to avoid causing delays to a woodland visitor attraction and bonfire night events.

People attending Pitlochry's popular Enchanted Forest light show have told of delays of more than two hours to reach the venue due to the roadworks.

Following complaints, gas supply firm SGN said traffic lights would be manually controlled to ease congestion.

It has now said the A9 would be fully open from Friday until Sunday night.

The company said the latest move was timed for Enchanted Forest's final weekend, and also to avoid causing delays for people travelling to and from local bonfire night events.

• Read more stories from Tayside and Central

• Listen to the latest news from Tayside and Central on BBC Sounds

More than 80,000 people a year visit the Enchanted Forest sound and light show, which is set in Faskally Wood near Pitlochry.

SGN said the pipeline work would resume on Monday morning and continue until its completion in March. It described the project as "critical".

The company said the pipeline supplied gas to thousands of properties, including homes in Birnam, Logierait, Dunkeld, Aberfeldy and Pitlochry.

SGN said: "We appreciate that motorists have been experiencing significant delays since phase two of our urgent works began on 23 October and we've implemented additional measures to reduce disruption as the work progresses.

"After listening to feedback from customers and our stakeholders, we've decided to pause work later this week.

"Once again, we are very sorry for the inconvenience being caused."