US-BORN flaming bagpiper Ryan Randall has been detained by border security officials after flying into Scotland.
Randall, from Las Vegas, is being held at the Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in South Lanarkshire after being stopped by border security when he arrived at Edinburgh Airport on Thursday.
The 32-year-old spends 90 days a year in Scotland and hoped to take part in independence events over the summer and to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe. Instead, he faces been flown back to the US on Monday.
Randall told The National: “I was flying in to take part in the Fringe but was told I needed a work visa. I’ve taken part before and all I had was a visitor’s visa, a tourist visa.
“They have arranged for me to fly to Chicago on Monday, which is only halfway to my home in Kansas.”
Randall famously led The Short Walk to Freedom, a rally of Yes voters through Edinburgh on the day of the independence referendum, with flames shooting out of the top of his bagpipes.
About 100 people joined him in to make their way through the streets of the Craigmillar housing estate to the polling station.
The kilted busker complained two years ago that police in Glasgow had told him to move on after complaints from businesses about his bagpipes being too loud.
James Scott, founder of the Scottish Resistance group, said he had secured the help of a lawyer to fight for Randall to be allowed to continue his summer trip to Scotland.
“The solicitor is due to see Ryan later but the authorities are determined to send him back to the US,” Scott said.
“It is unbelievable that Donald Trump is being given the red-carpet treatment today while another man from the US is being sent home just for wanting to play the pipes.”
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “Non-EU nationals seeking to enter the UK as visitors are not permitted to work. Those intending to work in the UK require the appropriate visa to do so.”
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