The number of neighbour disputes needing council intervention fell by nearly a third as people returned to their offices in the last year.
A report on antisocial behaviour complaints in East Lothian between October 2021 and March 2022 reveals the number referred to the resolution team dropped by 29% compared to the same period the previous year.
And it said the drop in cases, which normally involve neighbour households, is being put down to more people going back to work.
READ MORE: Surge in anti-social behaviour complaints in East Lothian during lockdown
The report on antisocial behaviour said 733 complaints were recorded during the last six months of 2021/22 - down from 887 during the same period of the year before.
Of the 773 complaints received, 265 related to antisocial noise (primarily loud music), 146 were youth related, 95 to drug misuse and the remaining 267 consisting of, amongst other things, shouting, swearing, neighbour disputes and verbal abuse.
The biggest hotspot remained Musselburgh, which is the county's largest town and saw 32% of all complaints coming from its residents.
Tranent was the second busiest town for complaints with 20%, while 14% came from Dunbar, 13% from Prestonpans, 17% from Haddington and just 4% from North Berwick.
East Lothian Council's safer communities service manager Kenneth Black said while the figures were down on the previous year they remained higher than 2019/20 by nine per cent, arguing the legacy of the pandemic when working from home and a reduction in tolerance levels saw complaints soar continued.
However he said: "The number of referrals made to our in-house resolution service saw a 29% decrease, which may in fact align with the number of people returning to their workplaces during that period.”
Problem Solving Partnerships (PSPs) were operating in Preston/Seton/Gosford, Haddington town centre and Dunbar over the last six months of the year with actions taken including visits to the homes of youths behaving antisocially, the signing of Acceptable Behaviour Agreements, increased hi-visibility patrols and targeted youth work.
The report, which was presented to a virtual meeting of East Lothian's Police, Fire and Community Safety Scrutiny committee, revealed there are currently eight live Antisocial Behaviour Orders in East Lothian.
And it revealed that during the reporting period 31 joint police/council letters were sent to the parents of children who police had identified as being present in instances and areas affected by antisocial behaviour.
