WORKMEN who spent days laying new cobbles have been forced to rip them all up and start again.

The stones were painstakingly laid along a two-metre stretch of road at the junction of West Bow and the Grassmarket as part of the a £5.1 million revamp of the area.

However as they inspected their finished work, it was noticed the road now "dipped" in the middle, and they were ordered to re-do it.

Workmen, employed by RJ McLeod, blamed a dip in the original laying of the road.

But frustrated residents and traders, who have already complained about the affect of the work on trade, have been left furious at the added delay.

One trader, who did not want to be named, said: "After they had laid the kerb stones I noticed there was a dip in the profile. It was noticeable. But then they came and cobbled that section.

"Then last week, when I came into work, I saw an inspector looking at the work. He must have said that the work was no good because they started taking it up again.

"It's ridiculous. They should have done it right in the first place. The workmen have been here for a good few weeks now. All the shops down here are affected."

Back in September, when work began on the Grassmarket, the council insisted "disruption will be kept to a minimum" and said that they hoped to be finished by autumn of this year.

Matt Dale, treasurer of the Grassmarket Area Traders Association and owner of Mr Wood's Fossils on Cowgatehead, said businesses were helpless in the face of this new delay. "Everybody was expecting some hold-ups but the trades are suffering. The level of disruption is off-putting to a lot of potential customers," he said.

"The intention was to minimise disruption to the Grassmarket and do the work piece by piece. However, many of the pieces have run into problems and so, delays."

A council spokeswoman apologised for the added disruption but said there would be no added cost to the city as a result of RJ McLeod's move. She said: "Their decision to re-lay the cobbles immediately is the best course of action in ensuring the surface is to a suitable standard and is far preferable to the unsatisfactory work being ripped up on the council's instruction further down the line."

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