SCOTLAND'S most notorious road remains shut - a week after it closed for safety reasons because of the threat of landslips.

The A83 at the Rest and be Thankful was shut from 7pm last Monday due to a heavy rain.

It is now due re-open on Saturday - but under restrictions following continuing fears of landslips caused by heavy rain.

But Bear Scotland, the road maintenance firm was forced to shut the road yet again on Sunday morning and it has now confirmed it remains shut.

When the road is shut, motorists are sent onto a single track route, the Old Military Road (OMR), which runs through the centre of Glen Croe and acts as a diversion using a convoy system.

It means that the road has been out of action for at least seven out of the last eight days.

Campaigners have been long called for a full public inquiry to determine why road is still not fixed.

Moves over installing a series of catch-pits aimed at preventing road closures came after a landslip around 650 feet above the carriageway shut the road in August, 2020.

Engineers said thousands of tonnes of debris including car-sized boulders slid onto the road after 100mm of rain hit the Argyll hills.

The slip ushered in a series of road closures for the important Highlands route which by January, 2021 had meant it was open for barely three weeks in the space of five months.

There has been criticism over money "wasted" over what is considered to be failed temporary fixes.

Catch pits are designed to ‘capture’ debris material from a landslip and prevent it from reaching the road.

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Two years ago officials said that it may take ten years for a permanent solution to stop landslides on the iconic Scots road.

Scottish Government-appointed maintenance firm Bear Scotland confirmed that the diversion off the A83 would remain in place on Monday morning to allow for hillside inspections to be completed after "significant rain" that fell on Sunday.

It said that "movements" had been observed on the hillside on Sunday.

Bear Scotland said subject to the outcome of further hillside inspections, it is anticipated the A83 will re-open but through a convoy control on Monday afternoon and that it said it should remain open overnight into Tuesday given an improvement in the weather.

A spokesman said: "Our team continues to have a presence on site and are monitoring conditions closely."

The A83 at the Rest has been operating under a traffic lights system after a series of landslips over a number of years that have put the important Highlands artery out of action for weeks at a time.

Argyll and Bute Council want a new replacement route within the life of the current Scottish Parliament.

In August, the Scottish Government announced a £25 million investment for design and development work for a permanent new route through Glen Croe. The council welcomed the funding announcement and is now seeking a commitment that work will start imminently.

The final award was given by the Scottish Government transport agency to a joint venture featuring Quebec-based consultants WSP and engineering and project management consultants Atkins, which is a subsidary of Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin while a decision over a preferred solution is not due till next Spring.

The contract was finalised, a year and three months after the Scottish Government's transport agency set a deadline for the management services to support the delivery of a new length of trunk road at the Rest and be Thankful.