An Inverness road which was closed after a major fire has partially reopened, although it could be months before traffic returns to normal.
One lane of Academy Street is now passable.
It is hoped the move will help to ease congestion problems which have been affecting the city since the blaze almost two weeks ago.
Last night, Mike Smith, manager of Inverness Bid, heralded it as a statement that “Inverness really is open for business”.
The street and its junction with Queensgate reopened yesterday following efforts to make the fire-damaged M&Co building safe with scaffolding.
Vehicles will be allowed to pass through under a system of three-way lights on Academy Street and Queensgate, which will also allow more bus services to operate.
The lights around the junction will be manually controlled during the day to try to keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible through the city-centre.
Public transport and emergency vehicles will also be able to use Bank Street and Fraser Street in both directions to either access the city-centre or head for other parts of Inverness.
No timescale for Academy Street to reopen fully has been set, but Mr Smith said he was “delighted” by the progress, heralding it as an important step in helping the city-centre to bounce back from the blaze.
He said: “It’s a major milestone, a massive step forward and a credit to everyone involved that we’ve got to this stage 11 days on from the fire.
“This was a priority for us once the building was safe enough to allow it.
“It’s a real statement that Inverness really is open for business.
“Ensuring public safety has been the primary focus so far and now it’s about supporting businesses and the economic recovery of the city-centre.”
Councillor Donnie Kerr, who represents the city-centre, also welcomed the partial reopening – but said he was concerned that it could take some time for the area to return to normal.
He said: “It is good that the traffic is going to be flowing again. But we have to be realistic and they will probably have to close it again at times if there’s work needing done on the building.
“Anything that involves insurers is not going to happen overnight as far as any more progress is concerned.”
A multi-agency group, comprising Highland Council, the emergency services, Inverness Bid and others, has been meeting regularly to discuss progress on the site.