ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour in Haddington town centre dropped during the coronavirus lockdown, according to a community group.

Haddington Central Tenants’ and Residents’ Association (HCTRA) regularly meets to discuss issues in the town centre. Those meetings have been taking place online during the global pandemic.

A spokeswoman for the group said they had missed the personal interaction of the meetings but had noticed changes.

She said: “With many working from home or being furloughed over the past few months, Haddington central area has become a completely different entity.

“With the anti-social problems we experienced prior to lockdown in the town centre area, from a personal perspective during the lockdown, even with the younger element not going to school, things certainly appeared quieter.”

Unfortunately, the issue had been noticed elsewhere in the town.

She added: “However, whilst walking my two dogs at Neilson Park a couple of weeks ago, I was disappointed to see phase three brought out the party people as there was a circle of empty alcohol bottles – I counted 30 plus general rubbish; disappointing!

“Hopefully after we get back to the next phase and start to see a return to normality, we see an upturn in people returning to our beautiful town centre and supporting our local businesses; we need to see more people who are moving into Haddington using our pubs, restaurants, hotels, cafes and keeping our High Street vibrant.”