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Female prison officers are refusing to strip-search a prisoner who claims he’s transgender.

Andrew Burns, who has changed his name to Tiffany Scott, is demanding only female officers search him, the Daily Record reports.

But three guards are defying orders to give him intimate body checks and have brought in their trade union to back them up.

The 25-year-old, who also calls himself Mitzababy, is not undergoing any treatment to transition to female.

Last year, warders at Glenochil prison near Alloa were furious when bosses told them they had to address Burns as Mighty Almighty after he changed his name.

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He has filed dozens of complaints against staff.

A prison source said: “The guy is a full-time menace and makes it his daily business to be as difficult and awkward as possible.

“He files stacks of complaints and every crazy whim he comes up with, the bosses bend over backwards to accommodate him. They don’t seem to realise it only encourages him.”

The source added: “Burns has claimed to be transgender for a while – though he’s not having hormone treatment or anything like that.

“This week, he insisted on being strip-searched by female warders instead of males.

“The women gritted their teeth and did what they were told on the first day. But on the next shift, they refused point blank.

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“Nobody blames them. Burns is creepy and quite clearly a man so there’s no reason why professional warders should have to go along with this fantasy.”

Burns, from Kinglassie in Fife, is a serial offender with a string of convictions for vandalism, assaults and resisting arrest.

In 2010, he attacked a nurse while escaping from a hospital in Cheshire.

He was once described in court as a “troubled young man” who had difficulty controlling his rages.

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The rebel trio have now asked the Prison Officers’ Association Scotland to fight their corner.

The Scottish Prison Service said: “We have protocols in place to deal with the needs of transgender prisoners. We also have procedures for staff issues and complaints.

“We do not comment on individual prisoners.”