COMMUNITY councillors opened their first face-to-face meeting in more than two years by paying tribute to a colleague who had passed away.

Herbert Coutts was a member of Dunbar Community Council for 15 years after retiring from a distinguished career with City of Edinburgh Council.

Community councillors met in Dunbar Town House for the first time since February 2020, having taken their meetings online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stephen Bunyan, the long-standing former chairman of the group, led the tributes and said: “We certainly miss him and hold him in remembrance.”

Mr Coutts had moved to Edinburgh from Dundee in 1971 and was tasked with managing the city’s museums.

In the role of city curator, he was responsible for bringing a series of exhibitions – ranging from The Emperor’s Warriors (1985), featuring life-sized terracotta figures from the burial enclosure of the first Emperor of China, to Star Trek – The Exhibition (1992), prepared in conjunction with Paramount Pictures – to Edinburgh.

Before retiring from the role of director of culture and leisure, he had also been involved in the refurbishment of the Usher Hall.

During his time on the community council, he was at the centre of plans to restore and update the town’s war memorial and was pushing for protection to be given to nearby Lauderdale Park.

Mr Bunyan said: “He will be greatly missed.

“His death was a great shock to us.”