Nine skeletons believed to date back to the 17th century have been unearthed under a school playground.

An archaeological excavation is under way in the grounds of St Mary's RC Primary in Leith, Edinburgh, after ancient remains were found at Easter.

Now a further nine skeletons - including one of a small child - have since been discovered within individual coffins.

The major dig was launched following the discovery of an individual skeleton over the Easter school holidays during work on an extension.

Work is continuing at the site, however experts believe that the remains could be those of plague victims who died in the 17th century.

It has been widely known that a cemetery was located in the Leith Links area around that time, however the exact location was unknown.

John Lawson, the city council's archaeologist, said the presence of coffins suggested that Leith residents had "a bit of time" at different points of the plague epidemic.

He said: "These people are definitely buried in coffins. You would expect when thousands are dying at one time, so they would rush burials, as the populations would have been overwhelmed.

"But maybe what we are seeing is part of the cemetery that hasn't had that."