ABERDEEN TREKKIES KLING ON TO SCOTTY.

Byline: By STUART PATTERSON

A FIERCE battle over the birthplace of Scotty from Star Trek ended yesterday - with Aberdeen declared the official winner.

The Granite City had been fighting it out with Elgin, Edinburgh and Linlithgow, in West Lothian, to claim the legendary character, played by actor James Doohan, as their own.

Now they plan to erect a plaque to lure fans on lucrative holiday pilgrimages to Scotty's "home".

Historians of the classic sci-fi series boldly stepped in to end the intergalactic row, revealing that the engineer definitely hailed from the Granite City.

Richard Arnold, adviser to series creator Gene Roddenberry, said the only official reference to Scotty's origins is in an episode of Star Trek where he declares himself "an old Aberdeen pub crawler".

And Professor Edward Sofranko, who runs a Star Trek course at the University of Rio Grande in Ohio, added: "The winning city would be Aberdeen. We certainly have several sources that give us evidence that Scotty was from the city."

Iain Struthers, who runs a Star Trek fan club in Aberdeen, said: "This is amazing news. A plaque should be erected as soon as possible. I'll round up some Klingons for the unveiling ceremony."

Doohan, the Canadian actor who played much- loved Enterprise engineer Scotty, died last month.

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STAR: Doohan