SEVERAL town centre businesses will have to apply for retrospective planning consent after being ‘shopped’ to East Lothian Council over unauthorised changes to their shopfronts.

The council’s planning department has written to the Haddington traders after being tipped off by a member or members of the public who questioned if businesses had been given the green light to paint shopfronts during lockdown.

Letters have now been sent to the businesses about the alleged planning breaches.

Erica Muirhead, of Erica’s Florist, was among those receiving a letter.

She said: “We tidied up the shopfront last summer.

“Our signage has been the same for the last 40 years with no change.

“The colours are pretty much the same as they have been.

“I certainly did not feel I needed to be informing planning that I was freshening up my shopfront.

“I think there are a lot better uses of the planners’ time than approaching businesses when we are in lockdown and a pandemic and trying to raise revenue when we are keeping our shops presentable.

“We are not doing anything outrageous with them.

“We are merely maintaining our property.”

The matter was raised at a meeting of the town’s community council.

Jim Graham, who owns Graham the Jewellers alongside wife Moira, questioned how the issue had come to the attention of the planning department.

It was suggested at the meeting, which took place virtually, that a single person had made a complaint to the local authority.

Mr Graham recognised that changes to shopfronts could not be “gaudy” but felt there could have been more discussions between local businesses and the council before letters were sent out.

Businesses could now have to stump up cash to apply for restrospective planning permission.

Florist Erica, who has been in business for more than 40 years, highlighted how tough times were for businesses. She said: “I’m lucky. I’m able to still do deliveries, although in a much smaller way than normal.

“A lot of the shops are completely closed with no income at all. The timing of this is not good.”

Jamie McDonald, of hardware and country store JS Main & Sons, was also contacted by the council.

He confirmed the colour of the shopfront had been altered and added: “I have never painted the shop before and did not realise I needed planning or I would not have changed the colour.

“It would have been cheaper to paint the shop back than to keep the colour I have got.”

A council spokesperson said in a statement: “In 2020 and at the beginning of 2021, the council received complaints concerning alleged unauthorised works undertaken to a total of nine shops within Haddington’s High Street and Market Street.

“Our enforcement charter requires us to investigate any such complaints and our investigation in this case established that five out of the nine shops had undertaken works without obtaining prior consent (some already had consents in place).

“The planning service, with the support of Councillor John McMillan, has been working with those traders to seek to agree an approach to resolve this issue.

“The planning service continues to take a supportive and positive approach towards appropriate business-related development.”