Plans to build a house in the countryside near Westfield have been rejected for a second time because of flood risks.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, (SEPA) had argued against the plan but a hydrologist said the site, near Westfield and Bridgecastle, would be safe.

And while West Lothian Council’s own flood risk engineers said there had been no flooding after recent heavy rainfall, there “was uncertainty on both sides” about the risks.

Despite having bought the site with planning permission in principle to build a house, the applicants Mr and Mrs J. Johnston have now seen their second attempt thrown out because a change in planning laws has tightened development rules around flood risk.

Papers before the Development Management Committee said that the DMC had rejected an e

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