'I spent a fortune on my dream home but now the council won't let me live in it'

Pat Sharp is seen standing outside the former Royal Bank of Scotland building,which she bought for half a million pounds seven years ago (Picture: SWNS)

A woman who spent more than half a million pounds converting an old bank into her dream retirement home has been told she can’t live in it by the council.

Pat Sharp bought the former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) building in Westgate,North Berwick for £550,000 seven years ago hoping to convert it into a wheelchair-accessible home after her husband Nigel was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

But East Lothian council ruled their dream property would be ‘harmful to the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building’ and the area.

The former bank building has been left empty after East Lothian council made clear the building must remain commercial.

Now Pat has said it is ‘too late’ for Nigel to move in with her after he was placed in a care home.

She also wanted to use the house to look after their grandchildren after her daughter died of cancer.

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