Council officers have been accused of trying to “retrofit” evidence to support claims a holiday let owner had been renting out his home unlawfully.

The owner of the property in Gullane, East Lothian, appealed to Scottish Ministers after the local authority issued an enforcement notice against them weeks after they said they had stopped accepting short term let bookings.

They said the notice could damage their reputation insisting they informed the council they were no longer renting it out weeks before the notice was issued.

Now the Scottish Government Reporter has accused the council of using evidence gathered after they took the enforcement action to try and back up their claims the rules had been broken.

And he criticised their initial reliance on evidence which was 19 months ol

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