Fife Council has given planning permission to re-open Cullaloe Quarry as a source of the sandstone necessary for the repair and maintenance of Edinburgh\'s World Heritage Site and its many other sandstone buildings.

The yellowish-grey stone is said to be an exact match for Craigleith stone, from which much of Edinburgh was built, although Cullaloe stone was also used in its own right and two of the city\'s cathedrals, St Mary\'s and St Giles\', were built of it. Craigleith stone is no longer available because a supermarket has been built on the quarry site, effectively sterilising the reserves that are still there.

The Scottish Stone Liaison Group (SSLG) has championed the re-opening of this quarry, which was last in production 50 years ago. It will be operated by Tradstocks, a Stirling company.

Alan McKinney, chief executive of SSLG, said after the council had granted planning permission in March: "I am absolutely delighted. We were concerned about what we were going to replace the decaying stone with." There are other stones that have been used for repairs in Edinburgh, but they have come from south of the border.