A “SMALL minority of people” are giving Tranent a bad name by carrying out acts of vandalism in the town, says the leader of a local watchdog group.

Mike Falconer, chair of Tranent and Elphinstone Community Council, felt good progress was being made in tackling anti-social behaviour.

But he said he was disappointed when he heard about incidents of such conduct.

His comments came after East Lothian Council was forced to close Tranent’s public toilets at the end of last month after vandals set fire to the facilities and broke doors inside.

The toilets have now reopened, with an earlier closing time of 4pm, rather than 6pm.

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Mr Falconer said: “Things like that are never nice to see.

“I know the council were quick to deal with it and the toilets are open again, which is good.

“I know that there have been lots of campaigns in Tranent about maintaining access to public toilets so it is disappointing to see them vandalised.

“Unfortunately, it is a small minority of people who take part in these behaviours, which can sometimes paint the town in a bad way.

“The vast majority of young people in Tranent are responsible but it is the irresponsible ones you hear about due to incidents like this.

“I have been happy in recent months with the communication between the community council and local police to tackle anti-social behaviour.

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“We saw progress with their handling of concerns about the motorcycles up the High Street, with someone acting irresponsibly.

“I still think progress is being made, but incidents like this [vandalism of the toilets] are very disappointing.”