An application to develop the first single malt whisky distillery in Edinburgh in nearly a century has been submitted to the city council.

The Engine Shed building on St Leonard's Lane will be turned into a small whisky distillery and visitor centre under the plans.

Subject to approval, the £3.6m Holyrood Park Distillery will be the first single malt whisky distillery since Glen Sciennes closed in the 1920s.

The business aims to start distilling whisky in 2017, initially producing 53,000 litres of alcohol per year, resulting in around 140,000 bottles of mature single malt in eight to 12 years' time.

David Robertson, project lead for the Holyrood Park Distillery, said: "We are very excited by the prospect of resurrecting the proud tradition of distilling single malt whisky in Edinburgh.

"We have submitted plans which outline our vision to bring single malt whisky distilling back to Edinburgh and have worked closely with local residents and businesses to build a proposal that we hope will benefit the local community as well as Edinburgh as a whole.

"Our vision is to create beautiful, hand-crafted spirits and the Engine Shed building is the ideal location for us to realise this ambition.

"With its history dating back to the 1830s, it will provide a fantastic home for us to create a small, but world-class distillery and tourist destination of which Edinburgh can be proud."

The distillery initially employ approximately 25 staff at varying levels, from trainees up to experienced distillery operators, tourism and production managers.