SCOTTISH Secretary David Mundell has announced his department is quitting its Edinburgh base for a new UK Government hub building in the centre of the capital.

The Scotland Office is currently sited in Melville Crescent, but by 2020 it will have moved to the New Waverley site, close to the Royal Mile and Edinburgh's Waverley rail station.

It will house almost 3,000 UK Government workers from the Scotland Office and other departments - including staff from HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs, the Information Commissioner's Office and the Office of the Advocate General.

The move is said to be part of a UK Government programme aimed at saving more than £2 billion of public cash over 20 years, by moving staff from different buildings across the country into cental new offices.

Mundell claimed: "The UK Government is delivering for Scotland. It is right that we have the right facilities to enable staff from across the whole of the UK Government to work together to deliver high quality services.

"The UK Government Hub demonstrates our commitment to supporting the Edinburgh economy - which we are also driving through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal."