It is a victory that would make Robert the Bruce turn in his grave - an Englishman beating a Scotsman in a bagpipes competition.

The only thing Scottish about Scott Inglis-Kidger is his christian name. Yet the 16-year-old, from Lanchester, County Durham, has just returned from Scotland with a bronze medal from a Highland bagpipes tournament. He was the only Englishman among 18 competitors at the pipe-off in Dunoon, on the Firth of Clyde.

Scott, a pupil at St Leonard's RC School, Durham City, started playing the pipes ten years ago, and is a member of the Houghton-le-Spring pipe band.

He said: "When I play in Scotland people assume I must be Scottish. They are always surprised when they discover I come from south of the border. It was nice to beat them at their own game."

As well as composing music, Scott, who has just passed his GCSE in music with an A* grade - one of ten subjects he passed - plays a variety of tunes on the bagpipes.