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A butcher has claimed ­Scotland’s ­traditional haggis recipe is wrong – because it should be made from deer.

Joe Callaghan says the national dish was invented by Viking invaders who made it from venison, not sheep.

He will try to win a top competition tomorrow with his version.

Joe, of Helensburgh, Argyll, said: “Scotland’s national dish is an imposter. The real national dish is staggis.

“Deer is an indigenous species in Scotland. The Vikings brought haggis to Scotland. My recipe is based on the original Viking recipe, made with venison plucks, which I have tweaked a bit to make it my own recipe.

“There are lots of ways of making haggis and we have made it from wild boar but it should really be made with venison plucks, not sheep plucks.”

Joe, 50, learned his trade in his dad’s shop from the age of 10.

A friend convinced him to use venison after researching the subject in depth.

He will join butchers from all over Scotland hoping to dethrone champion Mark Grant, from Taynuilt, for the Golden Haggis Award at Oban’s Winter Festival tomorrow. Mark, 56, who has been a butcher for 40 years, said he will use his trusted f ormula to try to win the title again.

He added: “I don’t change my recipe – people like it the way it is.”

Pamela Lockhart, from the Oban Winter Festival committee, said: “We have butchers from all over ­Scotland, including ­Edinburgh, Fife, Perth, Oban and Glasgow.”

There will be a panel of expert judges for the main award but the public are invited to take part in a blind tasting of entries at Oban Distillery from 1pm to 3pm tomorrow to ­establish the People’s Choice winner.

Other events on the final day of Oban’s Winter Festival will include a craft market at the Corran Halls and a lantern parade through the town.