A HOLIDAY let owner was refused permission to keep operating it because he submitted scanned copies of statements supporting his claims instead of the originals.

Planning officers rejected William Pearson’s request to have his North Berwick flat recognised as a short-term holiday home because, they said, his claims it had been operating for more than 10 years could not be supported.

And they said that statements from the owner of the neighbouring flat and owners of a local letting agency could not be accepted because they were submitted in the wrong form.

Now Mr Pearson has appealed to Scottish Ministers to overturn the decision by planning officers, saying they acted "unfairly and unreasonably".

And he challenges the demand from officers for original documents, pointing out that the council’s own online planning system requires them to be scanned in.

He said: “There is no magic to a sworn statement and it is the council’s own policy to require scanning.

“Presumably a sworn statement would also have to be scanned into the online form.”

Council officers refused to issue a certificate of lawfulness for the flat, which can be given if it has been operating for 10 years or more, saying the statements it received did not provide enough evidence.

They said: “The letter submitted from the letting agent is a scanned copy of a letter and is not a sworn statement.

“Within this statement, the letting agent states: 'To the best of our knowledge or belief, the flat has been continuously used as a short-term holiday let since 2006.'

“However, it has been established that the letting agent acquired the letting company in 2016 and thus cannot fully attest to the fact that the holiday let has been used continuously for 10 years or more.

“Consequently, this document is deemed to be insufficient in demonstrating lawful development of the use of the flat as a short-term let for 10 years or more.”

The officers add that, after requesting additional information, Mr Pearson provided a letter of support from the neighbour of his Nungate Road flat, who also stated it had been a holiday let for 17 years .

But they said: “This document was also in a scanned format and did not form as an original document or a sworn statement.

"Consequently this document is also deemed to be insufficient in demonstrating lawful development of the use of the flat as a short-term let for 10 years or more.”

The appeal will be decided by a Scottish Government Reporter.