A woman has died on a major route near Edinburgh after she was hit by a vehicle, police have confirmed.

Emergency services responded to a collision involving a pedestrian and a black Citroën Berlingo on the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass between Dreghorn junction and Hermiston Gait at around 8.55pm on Wednesday, 11 November.

The pedestrian, a 47-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police officers closed the route in both directions to carry out collision investigation work and understand the circumstances of the fatal collision. The major route was re-opened at around 2.45pm on Thursday afternoon.

Police Scotland has confirmed a 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a road traffic offence and enquiries are ongoing.

Sergeant Grant Hastie said: “Our thoughts are with the family of the woman who died and her next of kin are aware.

“Enquiries are ongoing and we are appealing for information that could assist with our investigation.

“Please get in touch if you saw anything or have dash-cam footage that could assist officers.

“We are also asking anyone who saw a woman in the area before the incident to get in touch as you may have vital information that could help.”

The road closure sparked long congestion and delays during rush hour as drivers were warned to avoid the City Bypass. In an update on Thursday morning, Edinburgh Travel News reported “lengthy” traffic delays and congestion in the area.

Edinburgh Travel News shared on social media: "Lengthy traffic delays across much of west/south west Edinburgh this morning - the City Bypass remains closed both ways between Dreghorn and Hermiston Gait following an incident last night."

In an update at 9am, traffic monitoring service Inrix stated: “A720 Edinburgh City Bypass in both directions closed severe delays, queueing traffic due to police incident from M8 J1 (Hermiston Gait, Hermiston) to Dreghorn Link (Dreghorn Junction, Oxgangs).

“Congestion to the M8 J3 (Livingston). Causing long queues on routes towards the city centre including the A80 through Cramond, the Lanark Road and Calder Road past the University.”

Anyone who witnessed the collision or was in the area is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 3870 of Wednesday, 11 November.