THE unseemly antics of Pellie, the local football team mascot, have made Dumbarton rock.

The elephant has been told to pack his trunk for good after baring his backside in front of rival fans.

His involvement with Dumbarton Football Club ended after supporters of Greenock Morton complained to stewards and the police. The 7ft elephant, which has been warned several times before about his pitch-side behaviour, dropped his shorts and wiggled his furry rear at the Greenock fans.

It is thought the incident was included in the report to the Scottish Football League by Iain Frickleton, referee at the match which Morton won 3-0.

Yesterday Pellie - aka Richard Blackhurst, aged 25 - said he would love to wear the costume again. However Iain MacFarlane, the Dumbarton chairman, appears unmoved by the request, indicating Pellie had been yellow-carded before over his behaviour at the Strathclyde Homes stadium.

''Pellie had been warned in the past so we were left with no choice but to terminate his involvement with the club. He dropped his tracksuit bottoms and then apparently gestured in a rude way with his hands. Although it wasn't his real backside he showed off, it was still unacceptable,'' he said. But some Morton supporters are now calling for Pellie to be given his job back. They have bombarded a team website with messages of support for the multi-coloured mascot.

One wrote: ''We should start a campaign to reinstate the elephant.''

Mr Blackhurst, from Bonhill, Dunbartonshire who, in return for dressing up as an elephant was given free entry to games, had just started his third season at the Division Two club. He said: ''I would like to be reinstated as Pellie. But I don't think there's much chance of that happening. There are too many stuffy, dusty old men on the board at that club. They have no sense of humour and have been against the idea of a mascot from the start. It's just a cheeky bit of fun.

''When there's a problem like sectarianism affecting Scottish clubs, an elephant taking his shorts down doesn't seem that big a deal.''