A new £48.5 million community campus project in the Highlands has been further delayed.

The Wick Campus facility is being built by Morrison Construction and developers hub North Scotland.

At the turf cutting ceremony in 2014 it was said the site would open this summer, however the handover of the school was delayed until October before being put back further to December 2.

Now the Highland Council has confirmed the expected handover date is December 8, nearly a week later than the previously revised date.

The rescheduled timescale has also pushed back the planned operational date of the new facilities, which was targeted for early January 2017.

In a statement, the council said it was “deeply disappointed” by this further delay.

The local authority said it has raised concerns with both hub North Scotland and Morrison to understand why the project is further delayed as well as to “seek assurances on the revised handover date”.

The council added it will notify stakeholders of expected operational dates for the new facilities “as early as possible”.