THE burning of two effigies of First Minister Alex Salmond at a bonfire night event in the south of England were scrapped last night.
Two large models of Mr Salmond had been prepared in Lewes, East Sussex, as part of the town's annual celebrations which are among the largest in the UK and attracted 40,000 people yesterday.
After a picture of one of the effigies, complete with a Loch Ness Monster and a "45%" badge representing the Scottish electorate that backed independence in the referendum was posted on social media it sparked outrage, drawing condemnation from the First Minister himself. A second model depicted Mr Salmond wearing a Union Jack cape and with his buttocks exposed under a kilt.
After hundreds of Scots expressed their anger on social media, Sussex Police stated last night that the force had been informed there would be no burnings of the First Minister after all. Police are to launch an investigation after a complaint. In previous years, likenesses of political figures including David Cameron, Saddam Hussein and Angela Merkel have been packed with fireworks and set alight at the Lewes event.
Before the bonfires were abandoned, Mr Salmond said: "I'm in pretty good company. Angela Merkel got the burning treatment from the East Sussex Conservative council. I think their judgment is askew but if they think I'm a threat to the Westminster establishment like Guy Fawkes, they are right."
Meanwhile, thousands of people turned out at bonfires and fireworks displays across Scotland.
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