Police called to Covid border protesters

Police were called to a group of demonstrators at the Scottish border who were protesting against English people holidaying in Scotland.

The 10 activists from Glasgow, Stirling and Fife broadcast the demo live on Facebook, where they could be heard calling on holidaymakers to stay out of Scotland. A banner was fixed to the A1 “Welcome to Scotland” road sign, which read: “Staycation. Keep Scotland Covid-free”.

Local Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton said: “This is nationalism at its worst. Scotland is meant to be a welcoming country.”

Police confirmed officers spoke to demonstrators to offer “advice”.

Cliff Serbie, from Glenrothes, who was at the demo, said: “We’d rather they didn’t come here because the Covid-19 virus is getting out of hand again in England. We’re doing our best not to spread it around.”