A further three schools in Edinburgh are to be temporarily closed from Friday over structural concerns.

St Peter's Primary, Firhill High and Braidburn special schools were built by the same contractors as Oxgangs Primary, which was closed on Wednesday.

A wall collapsed there following stormy weather in January but a safety inspection this week revealed more extensive damage.

St Peter's will be closed until after Easter. Tests will be carried out on the other two schools over the weekend.

Edinburgh City Council education convener Paul Godzik said: "The health and safety of our pupils and staff is our top priority and therefore the council has decided to temporarily close these schools as a purely precautionary measure.

"Whilst the survey results have indicated that these schools could continue to operate in normal weather conditions until the necessary works are carried out we are unwilling to take any risk.

"We fully recognise the inconvenience caused by these closures and we would like to apologise to parents for this, however I am sure everyone will understand why we have taken these steps."

Councillor Melanie Main, education spokeswoman for Edinburgh Greens, said safety must be a priority but questioned how parents could be expected to cope with the short notice.

She said: "On the face of it, it looks like something has gone badly wrong with the way these private school building contracts have been handled, both in building and in ongoing maintenance, that such rushed action has had to be taken.

"Once any emergency work is completed it is crucial that responsibility for these failings is established."