A Scot called William Wallace has challenged Alex Salmond to a fight live on air.

Mr Wallace, 75, who now lives in Brentwood in Essex, also said that the ex-SNP leader's pro-independence push made him "sick".

Mr Wallace rang in to Mr Salmond’s LBC radio phone-in to accuse the former First Minister of holding “England to ransom” over the financing of extra powers for Holyrood.

And he told him: ”I will have a fight with you any time”.

In response, Mr Salmond suggested that Mr Wallace’s anti-independence stance was not in keeping with his famous namesake.

The two men appeared to get off to a bad start when Mr Salmond commented on the caller's name, asking: “What are you doing in Brentwood?”

“What are you doing in London? ” came the reply.

On the ongoing finance row, Mr Wallace asked: “You are just holding England to ransom, aren’t you? When are you going to have another vote about leaving? That’s what you are up to, isn’t it?”

Mr Salmond denied that he was holding anyone to ransom, saying that all parties had agreed there would be "no detriment to Scotland’s finances”.

Mr Wallace went on to say that Mr Salmond’s push for independence “makes me sick. Because my grandad lost his life in the First World War... fighting for Britain. He was not fighting just for Scotland.”

Mr Salmond replied that his own father, 94, had fought in the Second World War.

Trying to move the discussion back to Scotland's finances, he claimed that George Osborne was "trying to pockle Scotland’s money”.

But Mr Wallace told him that he was talking to a “street guy” and challenged him to a fight.

Mr Salmond replied: “I’m glad you are in Brentwood not in Aberdeen, that’s for sure”.

The SNP MP for Gordon also told listeners that when he first met his wife she was a Conservative.

He also said that he did not think Donald Trump would win the republican nomination for President, despite the controversial tycoon's victory in the New Hampshire primary this week.

Mr Salmond also suggested that he was sympathetic to calls for councils to ban taxi service app firm Uber.