Bonnie prince sewn up in tapestry

A Scottish artist has unveiled one of the world's longest tapestries, in East Lothian.

The work, which has 103 panels, each 1m (3ft) long, charts Bonnie Prince Charlie's journey from South Uist to the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745.

About 200 volunteers from all over the world stitched together the design, which was created by artist Andrew Crummy, who was born in Prestonpans.

The finished tapestry is about 100ft (30m) longer than the Bayeux Tapestry.

That work depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England in 1066.

The Prestonpans tapestry, which took about 25,000 hours to stitch, tells of events which led to the Jacobites recording a victory against the government army loyal to the Hanoverian king George II.

Andrew Crummy said Bonnie Prince Charlie had a "magical" appeal

Mr Crummy said: "It all started when the Baron of Prestoungrange came back from seeing the Bayeux tapestry and he said to me 'why don't we do a tapestry that depicts the Battle of Prestonpans?'

"But the baron said 'I want it to be one metre longer than the Bayeux tapestry' and I foolishly said 'that sounds like a good idea'."

Mr Crummy said the tapestry ended up being much longer than the Bayeux tapestry as the design was added to during production.

Despite this, Mr Crummy, said he did not think it was the longest in the world.

He said: "I have been told it is not the longest. I am pretty sure it is the longest in Scotland. It is more about telling the story as a quality work of art."

The designer added that the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie had a "magical" appeal which drew a wide range of people to it.

After touring Scotland, the trust which commissioned the work hopes to create a permanent home for the ­tapestry at the site of the battle.