CELEBRITIES have no place in attempting to influence Scottish politics, according to comedian Billy Connolly.

While many high-profile showbiz names have nailed their colours to the mast in the independence debate, Connolly, who is currently in Scotland to film What We Did On Our Holiday with David Tennant, said he has no intention of following suit.

Connolly said: "I have no truck with it at all. There is a point where you can say something – but this isn't it.

"When times are absolutely normal it's great to shoot your mouth off about what you do and don't believe in. But, when there is something as crucial as this, I don't think it's a comedian's place.

"I think there is an arrogance involved when you are telling people how to vote. I don't think that's our place. Other people might think completely differently – that's a personal thing."

He added: "I've always felt that devolution was a bad idea – another layer of government that doesn't really achieve all that much.

"With this one, the people are going to make their choice without me. I think that's a great thing. I'll abide by it. Whatever happens is okay by me."

Connolly, 70, has spent the past three weeks filming in Croftamie, Stirlingshire, with shooting due to move to Gairloch, Wester Ross, this week.

The Glasgow-born funnyman, who is now based in New York, said he has enjoyed revisiting his native city but was taken aback by the altered landscape.

"I'm like a tourist," he said. "It's weird. It's changed so much. But it's changing for the better, I think. It certainly looks great. Perhaps it's the recent heatwave, but everyone looks quite jolly to me.

"I never saw so many pubs, though. All the places I used to deliver literature to when I was a boy, all the merchants, insurers and law offices, they are all pubs now, some of them huge."

Connolly said he is keen to return again to watch the action at the 2014 Commonwealth Games next summer.

"I want to see the track cycling, I fancy this velodrome," he said. "I'd like a wee whirl round it myself.

"I've never been to see athletics either, where people are actually belting round the track, so I would quite like to see that. In fact, I haven't been to an athletics meet since I was a school boy.

"It will be great to see it in Glasgow. Growing up, I always wondered why we never had the Olympics."

What We Did On Our Holiday, slated for release next year, is about a dysfunctional family which heads to Scotland for its grandfather's 75th birthday. It marks the directorial debut of writers Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton, the men behind the critically acclaimed BBC series Outnumbered.

The film is a co-production by Origin Pictures, which adapted Michel Faber's novel The Crimson Petal And The White for television, and BBC Films.