Workers for the firm were caught on site at its 300-home Lathro Park development in Kinross on a Sunday morning.

Persimmon, which initially said its contractors needed to be on site solely for emergency work, has now apologised for the breach and pledged that it won’t happen again.

The company has been fined £300, although that can be reduced to £225 if it pays within 15 days.

The local authority confirmed that a fixed penalty notice had been issued against the firm, following a complaint from a nearby resident.

A council spokeswoman told The Courier: “Following a site visit to the Lathro Park housing development in Kinross, Perth and Kinross Council – as planning authority – can confirm that the Sunday works being undertaken were to fix a burst water main and as such had the benefit of enforcement discretion.

“It is unfortunate that Persimmon’s contractors also took the opportunity to carry out some ground works while on site.”

She said: “The planning authority is issuing a fixed penalty for this breach, having already taken formal enforcement action relating to an earlier breach of condition.”

Iain Innes, managing director at Persimmon Homes North Scotland, said: “We have accepted the council’s penalty for this breach and apologise for any disruption.

“We instigated the emergency repairs in good faith. However, during the time our contractors were on site they also carried minor groundwork that had not been instructed by us.

“We will do our very best to make sure that this does not happen again.”

Last year Persimmon was issued with a temporary stop notice at the same site after it was revealed the firm didn’t have permission to carry out extensive groundworks.

Local Lib Dem councillor Willie Robertson said: “You don’t expect a big national company like Persimmon to adopt such a cavalier attitude to its working practices.

“If it were up to me, the planning authority should take breaches like this into consideration when looking at any of the company’s future developments,” he said. “If the firm has a history of problems, then it should be blocked from building anywhere else until the problem is sorted once and for all.”