A FAVOURITE feline has been banned from a Prestonpans store.

Rupert of Bankton has been a regular visitor to the Co-op store on the town’s Mid Road and has even been pictured having a snooze indoors.

However, the celebrity cat, who has his own Facebook page with more than 1,700 followers, is no longer allowed in the store after a complaint was made to East Lothian Council.

A council spokeswoman said: “Environmental health received a complaint about a cat being in the store and an environmental health officer visited the premises and reminded the manager that animals are not permitted on food premises.

“We understand the cat’s home is close to the Co-op and that staff are requesting that it isn’t encouraged by feeding it.”

Rupert, who is described on his Facebook page as “a ginger cat who likes to go for wanders”, can also regularly be spotted at the town’s railway station.

A message on his Facebook page on Monday said: “Oh dear, someone obviously don’t like cats.

“Lockdown life will be a wee bit more boring without Rupert’s pics to entertain us.”

A message on social media from a member of staff at the store outlined their disappointment at losing their regular celebrity visitor.

It said: “Unfortunately, due to a complaint made to East Lothian Council environmental health about Rupert, we’re having to ask customers not to feed him outside of the store. While we cannot dictate what you do outwith the store, we’re having to request this due to the complaint made to the council.

“We all love Rupert at the store and we’re disappointed said person couldn’t come and speak to us to voice their concerns and instead decided to refer us to the council.”

Many replies were in support of Rupert, including: “He wasn’t doing any harm. We all love him” and “Pathetic! We love Rupert.”