  We investigate the local symmetry of the tilting of the CuO$_6$ octahedra in
La$_{\rm 1.65}$Eu$_{\rm 0.2}$Sr$_{\rm 0.15}$CuO$_{4}$ by means of $^{63}$Cu NMR
spectroscopy and the Van Vleck susceptibility of the $\rm Eu^{3+}$ ions. The Cu
NMR central line lineshape is sensitive to local structure through the coupling
of the $^{63}\rm Cu$ nuclear quadrupole moment to the local electric field
gradient.The $\rm Eu^{3+}$ Van Vleck susceptibility, as a single ion effect,
locally probes the symmetry of the crystal field at the Eu site. Both
techniques independently provide clear evidence for a change of the local tilt
symmetry at the first order structural transition from the orthorhombic to the
low temperature tetragonal phase, in excellent agreement with the average
structure obtained by diffraction techniques. We conclude that the symmetry of
the average crystal structure accurately represents the symmetry of the
octahedral tilt pattern on a local scale.
