BAGPIPE-PLAYING policeman Steve Duffy, pictured, is to reunite with legendary rocker Rod Stewart, inset, to raise cash for services personnel. Det Insp Duffy will sound his pipes with the former Faces frontman at the Royal Albert Hall in London on November 10.

It is more than a quarter of a century since he backed the star on a live performance of Stewart’s 1986 song Rhythm of My Heart. They are expected to take part in a mass performance of Auld Lang Syne at the show, being held to raise cash for the Royal British Legion.

The 51-year-old, responsible for Thames Valley Police performance across north Oxfordshire, picked up the pipes aged 10. Since then he has performed at a range of local and national events for good causes.

He said of the concert: “Rod Stewart is an iconic British rock legend. It will be quite nostalgic.” Mr Duffy has not seen the star since he performed the track live with him at BBC’s Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham. He said: “He was a really down-to- earth character. He made a point of having a drink with the lads.”

After 12 years in the Scots Guards, the Banbury resident joined the force but never lost his love of the sound of Scotland. He said: “It is something completely different to my day job.” D

espite having a “very accommodating wife” the dad-of-four says he tends not to practise at home and gets a “little bit of ribbing” from fellow officers. The “real joy” of the instrument is leading it in a band, he said. Mr Duffy – whose son Robert, 20, is in Afghanistan with the Scots Guards – will also lead a 30-strong band of pipers and drummers in a further fundraising event in London on November 1.

He is set to perform at a number of railway stations in the capital, including Marylebone and Paddington stations, for London Poppy Day.

Picture: OX54830 Jon Lewis