HE may have relinquished a lofty title because of a fall-out with party leaders, but Robin Cook still pulls rank when it comes to going in the huff about more domestic concerns.

The Scots MP, who resigned as leader of the House of Commons over the Iraq conflict, is relying on his past power to try to prevent new neighbours moving in.

Mr Cook is upset about an application for a ''house in multiple occupation'' licence for a flat above him in the tenement in which he lives in the affluent Merchiston area of Edinburgh.

His home was the subject of strong Home Office security measures when he was foreign secretary.

''Although I am no longer in government I remain very prominent in public life and it is important for me that my home base is a place of privacy where I am secure from any form of confrontation,'' the politician told the city council in a protest letter from Westminster.

The 57-year-old Labour MP, who hinted the writing he did in the flat in Merchiston Crescent would be affected by the noise level of ''youthful tenants of an HMO'', said the residents of his ''stair'' had worked well as a responsible community.

''I would deeply regret it if the advent of the first HMO in the stair was to disrupt this excellent example of communal co-operation,'' said the Livingston MP, who married his wife Gaynor five years ago.

This followed his divorce after 28 years from Dr Margaret Cook.

HMOs are seen as an essential part of accommodation for students in the city.

Last night Sarah Nicholson, vice president (representation) of Edinburgh University Students' Association, said it was absurd to suggest ''any notion of a community'' would be lost if an HMO licence was given.

''Students are not all noisy. That is a very misused stereotype,'' she said.

The licence application for a second-floor flat for up to four occupants, submitted by Neil and Sheila Craig, of the city's Drumsheugh Gardens, is to be heard on Friday by the regulatory committee. They were unavailable for comment.

Mr Cook, whose protest letter is one of several from neighbours, said while he was foreign secretary, the Home Office had secured his flat with alarms and strong locks, but had been concerned the stairwell represented ''a point of vulnerability''.

He said for the past six years this had not been a matter of any anxiety for him because of the ''stable'' occupation of the other flats, but he would be concerned if a flat became occupied by a large number of tenants with a rapid rate of turnover. The MP said he also had worries concerning the stair's ''demographic character''.

Three of the five other flats were occupied by retired people who were at home all day.

The flat immediately below the one involved and the flat on the same landing were both occupied by single, elderly women.

''It is difficult to imagine a lifestyle more at variance from the likely hours and noise level from the youthful tenants of an HMO.''

Another resident said: ''It is particularly galling the long serving majority are being imposed on and expected to tolerate this detriment for the financial gain of a new owner who will not even be living here.''