30/11/2009 07:00:00

Scottish capital Edinburgh's famous Princes Street has been reopened for the Christmas season, allowing people to enjoy travelling along the street by bus for the first time in months.

Due to torrential rain, the planned opening - 0530 GMT on Sunday - was delayed for two and a half hours, but the central Scotland city managed to open the street's doors to bus travel once again. Since February, Princes Street had been closed to all traffic, causing disruption in the city as buses and cars had to be diverted along George Street and to take other routes to arrive at their destinations.

The first vehicle to take to the road was a Lothian bus, which took passengers along the route for the first time in nine months along what was likely to be a novel route for Edinburgh locals. It was followed by more of Lothian Regional Transport's fleet, as well as taxis and the first cyclists.

According to the BBC, a spokesperson for Edinburgh Trams praised organisers and staff for working hard to open the street in spite of abysmal weather conditions. Mandy Haeburn-Little said: "We are very grateful for the hard work of everyone involved in ensuring that Princes Street was ready for opening this morning - it has been a superb team effort.

"We would also like to thank the public, retailers and other stakeholders for their patience over the past months."

Construction on the tram lines has been suspended for the festive period and is due to begin once more in January.