WORLD champion boxer Josh Taylor was overwhelmed by the support of his hometown Prestonpans when he touched down on Scottish soil last week.

The undisputed super lightweight champion of the world was shocked by the response from the East Lothian community when he arrived home last Tuesday following his history-making win over Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas three days before.

Braving the cold and rain, residents of all ages lined the streets with Saltire flags and banners to show their support for the homegrown hero.

Staff from the Prestoungrange Gothenburg, Josh’s local pub, rang bells and youngsters dove onto the road to snatch a chance of a photo with the Tartan Tornado.

Having spent four weeks training in Las Vegas before his victorious fight, Josh was worried his historic moment would go unnoticed in East Lothian, until he was greeted with a hero’s welcome in the town he grew up in.

He said: “I didn’t realise the effect because I was in Vegas with the eight-hour time difference, so I was tucked away in my little bubble.

“I came back to my home town of Prestonpans and there were hundreds of people waiting for me outside my local pub, where I used to drink.

“Family, friends and friends of friends, loads of people in the area, coming out to support me. There were people hanging out of their windows and clapping.

“My two mates in the back of the car were wiping some tears away – it was nice, a pretty cool moment.”

Only the fifth man in history – and the first from Scotland or the UK – to hold all four belts in a single weight division at once, Josh, 30, has become a boxing figurehead for the youth of East Lothian and beyond.

“I didn’t feel the effect of it until I got home and saw all the reports in the papers and on the news,” he said.

“I had been thinking, ‘is it going to go unnoticed back home?’, but everyone seems to be super proud and my phone is still going crazy.”

Meanwhile, Josh and his family have expressed their disappointment over the lack of televised coverage of the Ramirez fight in the UK.

Josh’s next priority, besides lining up his next worthy opponent, is to marry his partner of 10 years, Danielle.

Josh said: “I’ve been told we need to go look at wedding stuff, and the next important thing as well is I’ll need to sort my stag do, but knowing me and what I’ve had to do for the rest of my life, I’ll probably miss it, I’ll probably get it booked and not turn up to my own stag do, I’ll have to miss it because I’ll be in training or doing something for boxing.”