GOVANHILL primary pupils are to have the chance to enjoy their school playing field again after a long-running wrangle was settled.

Part of Holy Cross Primary School's playground had to be closed off due to old mining works making the area unsafe.

The school's parent council has been petitioning Glasgow City Council for years to resolve the problem.

And now, finally, the mine shift will be filled in and the playground opened up to youngsters again.

Bosses said it would create a "significantly bigger play area" for pupils at the school, in Govanhill.

Councillor Chris Cunningham, City Convener for Education, Skills and Early Years, added: “The work at Holy Cross Primary School will begin once we have secured the correct permissions from the Coal Authority and procured and appointed a specialist contractor to carry out the work.”

Currently the school's pitch is not a safe area for children and has been fenced off for several years.

It is covered by a blaes surface, which will be brought up to better condition for pupils.

Parents had also hoped the area would be upgraded to tarmac or paving but the council has said this will cost too much.

Local councillor Soryia Siddique had joined parents in asking for the mine shaft to be made safe.

Mine works are a serious problem on Glasgow's South Side with Glasgow City Council previously playing £500,000 to shore up four street blocks at risk of collapse.

The problem is said to date back to the Industrial Revolution around 250 years ago when unregulated mines were dug to feed the need for new industries in the city.

Few records were kept of the mines and tenements were built over the top without checking the condition of the ground.

Columns of minerals were left to hold up the ceilings of the mine works but over the years these have eroded.

Local historian Brian Skillen has found plans showing that Glasgow's mineworkings date back to the 1690s.

However, keeping records on the exact location of new mines was made mandatory only in the 1870s.

When the Shieldhall Tunnel was recently under construction, bosses had to carefully consult old maps for coal seams.

The Evening Times told in 2011 how Glasgow City Council, following warnings from geologists, intended to fill in old mine workings under four blocks at: South Annandale Street, Govanhill Street, Ca l d e r S t r e e t a n d Langside Road; Annandale Street, C o p l a w S t r e e t , Butterbiggins Road and Inglefield Street; Inglefield Street and Butterbiggins Road; and Langside Road and Coplaw Street.

In the West End mine working had to be filled in under streets in Jordanhill after fears were raised of collapses.

A survey commissioned by the council in 2012 showed that half of Glasgow is affected by disused mine workings.

In 2015 parents at Holy Cross said Glasgow City Council had left the primary "to crumble".

Education bosses are investing in the primary estate as part of the 4Rs Estate Strategy, which aims to bring every school building in the city up to scratch.

But parents at Holy Cross Primary said their school building, which as now been refurbished, was dropped to the bottom of the pile.