The grand opening of Scotland's new parliament building at Holyrood has been delayed by three months.

It was hoped MSPs would sit in the new building for the first time next May, but the move has been put back until September.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), said construction would be complete by the original deadline but transferring staff and equipment would take longer.

The Scottish Conservatives said the delay was another chapter in the "never-ending saga of the Holyrood fiasco".

Sir David: Looking for a smooth move

The controversial project has been beset by problems and rising costs, which have gone from �40m to �280m.

Presiding Officer Sir David Steel, SPCB chairman, said that trying to relocate staff and resources from seven different buildings in such a short time would be a major logistical problem.

Instead they will move during the summer recess, which gives them longer to test equipment and deal with any snags.

Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie said taxpayers had suffered enough through the much maligned project and had lost all confidence in it.

'Working parliament'

In a letter to the parliament's finance committee, Sir David said the delay was required because of the need to test "key systems".

"In the light of this, we have agreed that, while there will be no change to the target construction completion date, actual migration to the new building should more sensibly be planned to take place over the summer of 2003.

"Summer migration will allow staff the opportunity to carry out a full testing of systems and services with a view to ensuring that September begins with a fully operational, working parliament."

But the Tory leader David McLetchie said the delay was the latest in a long line of gaffes by the project team.

David McLetchie: "Holyrood fiasco"

"This news marks yet another chapter in the apparently never-ending saga of the Holyrood fiasco," he said.

"May has become September and �40m has become �300m.

"I only hope that this new deadline can be met and that no more cost is accrued but, given the track record of those in charge of this project, I won't be holding my breath."

Scottish National Party MSP Margo Macdonald, an outspoken critic of the project, said the project group had "fallen down badly".

Track record

"They are incompetent and they have had rings run around them by the contractors and the civil servants."

When a new Scottish Parliament building was originally suggested by the then Secretary of State for Scotland Donald Dewar, the estimated cost stood at �40m.

A cap of �195m was then put on the project but subsequently removed following a vote by MSPs.

Critics said project managers had no control over spiralling costs.