IT'S official! A Cleethorpes man has the largest bagpipe collection in the world.
Danny Fleming, 50, has received a giant framed certificate from the publishers of the Guinness Book Of Records in recognition of the feat.
Danny, a Humberside Police Constable, has built up his collection of 105 sets of bagpipes over the past 40 years, beginning as a 10-year-old growing up in his native Scotland.
But he only decided to enquire if his collection constituted the world record after appearing on the TV show Bargain Hunt in October.
"On Bargain Hunt I said I collect bagpipes and I thought the only people that can say if it's an official record is the Guinness Book Of Records. I got a former Black Watch sergeant, who was the official adjudicator, and the deputy mayor of North East Lincolnshire Alex Baxter to look at the whole collection.
"I had never ever seen the whole collection in one place at one time. I was allowed one of the halls at Signhills Academy to put all the bagpipes out and pictures were taken of each of the 105 sets. The official adjudicator picked ten sets for me to play to show that they were playable.
"Then we submitted the paperwork and all the evidence on video of me playing the bagpipes and they came back with a world record.
"It's fantastic. I had never thought about contacting the Guinness Book Of Records. It really just came about from being on Bargain Hunt."
It seems that record breaking runs in the family. His late father Charlie Fleming supplied the steak pies for a steak pie eating competition which featured on the TV programme Record Breakers.
And it was Danny's father that set him on the way to his own record-breaking feat, buying him his first set of bagpipes when he was 10 years old; then his second when he joined the Scots Guards at 16. After that Danny says it was a case of "picking them up as you go along".
He said: "When I was down at Pirbright in Surrey, the home of the Guards, I used to buy and sell bagpipes, and I ended up buying more than I sold.
"As a musician you are always looking for that unique instrument. That's what spurred me on and I have just kept the collection building and building."
Danny says his wife Jane had told him that if his collection turned out to be just short of the record, he would have to buy some more sets.
However, he insists he is now "banned" from adding to his collection. Danny, who still performs at charity and community events, added: "It doesn't stop me looking but I'm content now. I think this is it. I don't think I will be buying any more."
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