Plans to use compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) to secure land along two potential extension routes for Edinburgh’s trams have been approved.

The city council voted 47-11 in favour of using CPOs, avoiding a lengthy legal process to regain the powers at a later date.

Councillors have already voted in principle to extend the controversial tram line from the city centre to Newhaven at an estimated cost of £144.7m.

Thursday's vote means the council could now use CPOs to acquire land on the so-called Granton spur, leading north of Roseburn and the stretch between Newhaven and Granton Square.

Of the 163 plots of land required for the Granton spur, 116 are already under council ownership.

Compensation would be payable for the remaining 47 plots of land along the route, which would run along the council-owned cycle path that follows a disused railway line as far as the shore at Granton.

Acquiring land on the proposed route between Granton and Newhaven is seen as "relatively straightforward", according to the report.

Proceeding with the CPOs would cost an estimated £1.75m in compensation. The figure has already been earmarked within a £5m pot to pay for investigatory work into the extension to Newhaven.