SOME residents have been extending their gardens onto public land without permission, East Lothian Council has said.

The local authority told the Courier that there had been a number of breaches of planning control, following complaints in regard to some Prestonpans residents apparently moving fences to increase the size of their gardens. 

At the most recent meeting of Prestonpans Community Council, the issue was also brought up by member Graeme Hutchison.

He told attendees that he had received a number of complaints about some residents of the town's Suthren Yett supposedly increasing the size of their back gardens without permission. 

A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “The council’s planning service has investigated complaints regarding the alleged change of use of this public open space to domestic garden ground, and have established that there have been breaches of planning control.

"In some cases, householders have been granted retrospective planning permission for this development.”