THE county’s coast road will be shut for much of Sunday as the Scottish Half Marathon takes place.

Runners depart from Meadowmill Sports Centre at 11am and head through Longniddry past Gosford House and along the A198 towards Cockenzie and Port Seton. From there, runners will pass the former power station site and run through Prestonpans High Street.

The race ends at Musselburgh Racecourse.

The event also includes the Scottish 10k, which starts at 9am at the racecourse.

As a result, the A198 is shut eastbound between Meadowmill and Longniddry’s Dean Road between 10.50am and noon, while the same road is shut again between Lyars Road and the entrance to Gosford House between 6am and 3pm.

Prestonpans High Street will be closed between 6am and 3.30pm, while Cockenzie High Street re-opens half an hour earlier after also shutting at 6am.

Parking restrictions will also be in place, while reduced speed limits will be in force on the A198 and B1361.

For full information, visit East Lothian Council’s website or tellmescotland.gov.uk The favourite for this year’s half marathon is Ross Houston, the Central AC athlete who represented Scotland in the marathon at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Houston’s likely challengers include last year’s second-place finisher in the Scottish 10k, Peter Avent.

The women’s field is headed by Edinburgh AC’s Catriona Probert, who broke the three-hour marathon barrier for the first time this year.

Fife AC’s Jennifer Cruickshanks could be her nearest challenger.

Meanwhile, Lothian Buses have come under fire for failing to give residents who rely on the No 26 advance warning of service changes ahead of the event.

Cockenzie and Port Seton Community Council said it had been unable to find out what changes would be made to services when the race takes place.

And it said requests for advance notice so they could tell residents had been met with no response beyond advising them to keep checking the bus company’s website.

They condemned the company for failing to let customers know what services would be running on the day.

One community councillor said: “It was the same last year, we had no information until the evening before the marathon itself. People were left trying to get to work with no bus service.

“We have no problem finding out from Prentice [Coaches] about their plans. If other bus companies can get their act together why not Lothian Buses?”

Ward councillor Lachlan Bruce told how he had been caught out by sudden changes to the bus service to accommodate events in the past.

He said: “I worked a 10-hour night shift and was coming home [to Port Seton] but the bus only took me as far as top Pans and I had to walk the rest of the way.”

Lothian Buses said route diversions were designed to take account of a number of factors to provide the best solution for customers.

A spokesperson said: “Where our services are affected we strive to publish up-to-date and accurate travel information for our customers as soon as finalised diversion routes become available. We work closely with event organisers, local authorities and Police Scotland on a wide of events across the region throughout the year. The complexity and details of each event vary considerably and can change from year to year.”