A NAIL salon operator has been given a year to prove that a ventilation system is not sending fumes into neighbouring homes – or face having to rip it out.

Crown Nails Salon on Musselburgh High Street installed the air conditioning unit and vent without planning permission, running the vent through a communal corridor shared with neighbours.

A report to East Lothian Council’s planning committee said that the vent was introduced to tackle issues around chemical fumes from the salon seeping into flats above it.

But it was claimed by one resident that the external vent was under his window and continued to send smells into his home.

He told the meeting: “We anticipate another winter when we will have to have every window in our home open to mitigate the fumes and nuisance odour from the business.”

Four objections were lodged to the application, with concerns raised about the chemicals leaking into neighbouring homes, the duct for the vent being run along a communal corridor without other residents' permission, and damage to the listed building.

Environmental health officers said that an abatement notice had been served on the salon after concerns about fumes in flats above were raised and the vent system was designed to improve the situation.

A report to the committee said that there had been “odour nuisance arising from solvent fumes emanating from the nail salon into the flat above”.

It added: “The works that have been undertaken are to mitigate the odour nuisance. Accordingly, the council’s senior environmental health officer supports this planning application.”

Councillors expressed concern that the application for permission to install the vent in the listed building had been submitted after the work had been carried out.

Councillor Cher Cassini, Musselburgh ward member, warned that the local authority risked sending a dangerous message that it was “easier to get forgiveness than permission” to other people.

And while Councillor Norman Hampshire, planning convenor, acknowledged that there were questions over whether the applicant had the legal right to put the vent in through the shared close, it was not a concern for the committee.

He said: “In terms of planning, the air conditioning unit and vent meet what is required.”

Fellow committee member Councillor Colin McGinn agreed that the application did not breach planning policy.

But he said: “I do have a major concern here because no permission was sought for this and I am concerned that we can approve this work and then the legal burden falls on other residents to challenge it.”

He suggested restricting planning permission to one year to allow ongoing monitoring of the fumes' impact on the residents upstairs over the next 12 months.

Environmental health officers told the committee that they would continue monitoring the salon under the ongoing abatement notice.

Councillors unanimously approved planning permission for one year, with a condition that, after that date, the vent would be removed unless further permission was granted, which would depend on the results of monitoring.