A KILWINNING man complained of being harassed by cops while out running and maintaining a safe social distance.

Well-kent singer and songwriter Colin Hunter told how an officer shouted at him as he pulled him up in front of friends for briefly stepping out on the road to avoid other pedestrians during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The musician and Pitcher’s Nightclub DJ said he briefly stepped out onto the road after doing a safety check when he noticing a dad and daughter in front of him at Bridgend late last month, adding he was only ‘doing what they want us to do’.

Speaking on his My Battery Is Low and It’s Getting Dark Podcast – which he started after the lockdown – he said: “Today I went for a run – and I’m not going to say how far I ran or the time cause I put it up on Instagram and felt dead embarrassed with myself and thought just get it down – its okay if you do it I’m not slagging you, it didn’t feel like a me thing.

“So I ran, felt all the endorphins cutting through me and I was going to go in the shops to get a couple things. But on the way there I was at the Bridgend and I saw a dad and a daughter coming towards me.

“So I stepped out on the road, but looked behind me first. There was police van there but it was fairly far away at the time.

“So I did a wee hop skip and a jump onto the road and I got stopped. I got stopped by the police for doing what they want us to do.

“And folk seen me. My pal saw me getting checked by the polis with his partner when walking their weans.

“They were just like ‘what you dain!’, shouting at me, and I was like, ‘I was making sure we were a wee bit apart, the thing we’re supposed to do’.

“‘Aye, well you could have went back into that wee bit there’ – ‘Aye well I could have done a somersault and jumped into the water and all.”

“I was like look, I don’t want to argue, I can’t be bothered arguing and they just drove off. I didn’t do anything wrong I was trying to make sure I was a wee bit away.”

Police Scotland were contacted for a response.

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