BBC BOSSES ordered a River City star to delete online posts criticising the broadcaster over its indyref coverage, it has emerged.

Adam Robertson was written out of the Scottish soap months later, in May 2015, having played Shieldinch medic Dr Dan Hunter since 2011.

During that time, Robertson and his English wife moved their Welsh-born children from their home near Swansea to Glasgow to take part in the historic vote. The Thurso-born star also gave interviews backing the Yes campaign and expressed his opinions on social media.

However, he was reprimanded by BBC bosses for a series of posts relating to the BBC’s coverage in the build-up to the referendum.

That included sharing a petition by a campaign group opposing apparent bias by the corporation and tweeting criticism of Radio Scotland’s Morning Call show.

All were made as political debate intensified and public concern about apparent bias in the BBC’s output grew. Thousands of people attended a protest outside its Clydeside offices just days before the ballot.

Gaynor Holmes, now head of drama at BBC Scotland, was acting head of the department when she called Robertson to a meeting about his online activity, with actors’ union Equity then becoming involved. No minutes were taken at the October session, which Holmes claimed was called following audience complaints.

Robertson, who last night performed the opening night of his new Fringe show, says he was told his actions were “bringing the BBC into disrepute” and that he would have suffered instant dismissal if he had attended the mass rally.

Robertson told The National: “Should nurses not complain about the NHS because they work for it?

“Morning Call came on automatically when I took the boys to school. Caller after caller was No, there was no balance. Afterwards I tweeted that I had deleted it from the autoset and wouldn’t listen to that pish again, or words to that effect.”

He went on: “The attitude at the BBC is ‘we don’t want to discuss issues that might divide people’. That’s not the kind of Scotland I want to live in. We have to discuss these things and make a decision. That’s democracy.”

Discussing ongoing criticisms about the BBC’s coverage of Scottish politics, he went on: “The allegations against the BBC come about because of top-down structures and concerns about not rocking the boat.

“Within the BBC there are amazing people and the BBC output is amazing, so we can’t write it off, but being told not to talk about things doesn’t help anybody.”

Last night Equity did not respond to contact from The National and the BBC declined to comment on “internal staffing matters”, but said rules against criticising colleagues on social media were in place at the time.

The comments came just hours before the father-of-four began a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe with his new play Haggis McSporran is Out of His Box.

Written by award-winning playwright Henry Adam, the show tells the story of a Caithness-born stand-up comic who moves to London to pursue a stage career, only finding success when he reconnects with the Highland origins he has rejected.

The hour-long work covers issues of identity and politics and Robertson says aspects of the story mirror his own life.

The actor lived in London for many years after graduating from the acclaimed Drama Centre London, which counts Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan amongst former students.

He said: “The show is all about the importance of identity and about being kept in a box. I hope the audience come away understanding what it means to be find your own voice. I think Scotland is finding its voice now.

“I have a deep connection to the material. I grew up in Caithness in pretty bleak circumstances and went to London for my career. I thought I was starting to do well, but I was really losing my identity.”

Those circumstances include poverty and domestic violence, with Robertson frequently in trouble at school and before the Children’s Panel, with one teacher telling him “the only place you’ll end up is jail”.

He said: “My parents broke up when I was seven – there was violence, drink, abuse. We were living in shelters and caravans, my mum was on benefits. I remember walking the streets when I was a toddler because my mum had to leave the house because of the violence.”

Robertson left school at 15, going on to a string of unfulfilling jobs including a post in a freezer factory and mopping the floors at Dounreay. The turning point came when he went to a careers office and read through the options from A to P, where he hit “performing arts”.

A former teacher then introduced him to his first play and he spent one year at college in Dundee reading 10 works a week and using free student admissions to the Dundee Rep to learn more about acting and stagecraft.

He was able to take his place at the £5,000-a-year Drama Centre London thanks to money put up by a Welsh donor when applications for government funding failed.

A chance meeting with One Foot In The Grave actor Richard Wilson then secured the funds for his final years. The pair attended the same show at a London theatre when Robertson commended Wilson for his opposition to drama cuts, with the Greenock-born performer – who will also appear at the Fringe as curmudgeon Victor Meldrew – offering to pay two years of fees after other avenues failed.