Magic AM

Believe it or not... Doncaster could be a part of Scotland!

Historians in the town have uncovered ancient paperwork that says Doncaster was given to Scotland as part of peace talks in 1136. The Treaty of Durham says the town was put under Scottish rule.

It's thought Doncaster became English again in 1157, but there's nothing official to say that happened.

While no-one's expecting haggis to be served at half-time at the Keepmoat Stadium just yet, and there's no plans for kilts to go on sale in Frenchgate, the town's mayor Peter Davies says it wouldn't be a bad thing to be North of the Border.

'I think the people of Doncaster would quite enjoy the benefits of being Scottish. Instead of paying money to Scotland (in taxes) we could end up with Scotland as being the beneficiaries of devolution with free care for the elderly and no tuition fees or prescription charges.

'It's not something we'll persue though, the government's decided we're part of England, and we're content to be so, but it's interesting to speculate on some of the goodies that might come our way if we were Scottish.'

And could bagpipes be set to open up Doncaster's council meetings?

'They certainly won't! I can't stand the things! I always think a useful thing to carry around when someone's playing bagpipes is a knitting needle!'