FRESH life will be breathed into a former men’s club in Haddington.

East Lothian Council has given the green light to East Lothian Property’s plans to transform 33 Sidegate.

The former Haddington Recreation Club closed its doors in the early 1990s and will now become home to a ground-floor office and four flats.

The three-storey property is currently used as bedsit accommodation.

One member of the public objected to the proposals on grounds including road safety, the likelihood that “the use of the building to accommodate an office and four flats will lead to a large number of cars parking on street at this potentially dangerous spot” and that the proposals “do not accommodate any dedicated off-street parking, the consequence of which would result in cars being parked on the narrow road outside the building which would result in difficulties for other road users and would create a road safety hazard”.

Despite the objections, the plans were given the go ahead, with the planning officer noting that colleagues in the roads services department raised “no objection” to the plans.

Billiards, draughts and table tennis were all played by male members of Haddington Recreation Club before it closed. It also had a licensed bar.