The construction of a new £2.5 million garden centre in Dunbar has  started nearly three years after a plan for the development was first lodged.

Lanarkshire-based BHC Ltd has been awarded the contract to construct the centre, which East Lothian Council had initially rejected two years ago but which was granted on appeal to Scottish ministers in April last year.

Nick Crabbie, managing director of Berwick Garden Centre Ltd - the company behind the Dunbar centre - said: "During these difficult economic times, many people have been wondering whether this project is going ahead.

"I am very pleased to confirm that work on the Dunbar site is now under way."

The five-acre green field site of the new centre has been cleared of vegetation and levelled. The work will begin with perimeter fencing, followed by foundations and then the main building will be erected and infrastructure created.

The centre will be equipped with a biofuel woodchip boiler, which will provide heating and hot water for the whole site.

The final stage of building work will be a glasshouse, which is sub-contracted to a specialist Dutch company, Smiemans.

Vacancies for the centre, which could create more than 40 jobs, will be advertised when the project is nearing completion.