7-year battle but still can't move into ideal home

A COUPLE who spent more than £550,000 on a former bank to turn it into their dream home have never moved in due to years of planning restrictions.

- By Elizabath Hunter

Grandmother Pat Sharp and husband Nigel bought the empty Royal Bank of Scotland building in Westgate, North Berwick, seven years ago with plans to live out their retirement there.

Nigel had been diagnosed with Parkinson's and realising he would one day be unable to climb the stairs to their flat, the couple paid more than double the £250,000 asking price, even though the building did not have planning permission to turn it into a residential property. The council insist that it is a commercial building which is needed in the busy town centre, despite the couple unearthing an old photo proving that it was actually once a home.