A bid to demolish a “redundant” farm building east of North Berwick and replace it with a modern two-storey home has been refused by East Lothian Council planners.

The plan was led by East Linton architects APT Planning and Development on behalf of Graeme Tapner to create a new family home.

The development would have been located at 5 Rhodes Holdings, close to the junction with the A198 at a “dilapidated” agricultural building and near to several other modern homes.

The existing building occupied a “prominent site” and the applicants hoped the new development would offer a “far more attractive and interesting building compared to the large, unattractive and redundant former agricultural building that currently occupies the site”.

However, this was not a view shared by East Lothian Council’s planning department.

Planners refused permission for the development as it contravened policy on building housing on agricultural land.

In the decision notice, it was stated that the development would set an “undesirable precedent for the development for new houses in the countryside”.

It added that “the development would add significantly to the residential imprint on this countryside locality to the detriment of the rural character of the area”.