AN EAST Lothian distillery faced the "vexing" question of whether yoga was a sport as it faced demand for classes at its visitor centre.

Glenkinchie Distillery wanted to introduce the activity at the centre and outdoors but, after discussions with East Lothian Council licensing officers, could not decide if it was a sporting or spiritual activity and, in the end, applied for a change to its licence to allow it.

And a meeting of the council's licensing board on Thursday heard that, after deciding to change its licence, the distillery looked at other events it could hold, submitting a wide range of future activities from Pilates to ceilidhs and events offering refreshment stops to bigger cycling and running events.

The board heard that the change in events planned for the visitor centre, which has operated at the distillery for nearly 20 years, was all inspired by the plan to start a yoga class.

READ MORE: Glenkinchie Distillery hopes to hold yoga and ceilidhs on its grounds

A spokesman for the distillery said: “The catalyst for this was quite simply yoga.

"The centre said there was a demand for indoor classes and outdoors, weather permitting, and the landscaped gardens are a great venue for that.

“This got us thinking about what other changes we could bring in and I had a conversation with licensing officers around whether yoga was a sport, which is a permitted event, and this got us into a very vexed question about if it was a sport or a spiritual activity or both.

“Where we got to was that it was better to come to the board and include it as a specific activity rather than sport and that is what got us started on a variation application.”

A report to the board from its licensing standards officer said that the new licence would include allowing dancing facilities and charity events, talks, lectures and demonstrations along with "holistic wellbeing activities including yoga and Pilates”, as well as ceilidhs and being either the start, finish or stopping point for races.

A single objection was lodged over the changes from a local resident, who said: “I take particular exception to the proposal to become involved with cycling and running events, as not only will they have large numbers of people and vehicles on site, but these will also cause congestion and dangerous driving conditions in the surrounding areas.”

The board’s licensing standards officer said that she had not received any complaints about the premises, which was well run.

Councillor Lachlan Bruce, board convenor, said: “I am happy with this application. In terms of whether yoga is a sport, I will leave that to others.”

The board approved the variations to the licence unanimously.