ANGRY traders from Paddy�s Market demonstrated outside Glasgow City Chambers today in protest at council plans to evict them.

ANGRY traders from Paddy's Market demonstrated outside Glasgow City Chambers today in protest at council plans to evict them.

They hope to force councillors into changing their minds and allowing them to continue selling goods at the railway arches in Shipbank Lane.

Around 40 protesters held placards saying: "Say Yes to Paddy's" and "Labour is the Crime".

A number of opposition councillors, including the SNP's Billy McAllister, joined the protesters.

Mr McAllister said he and his colleagues were going to argue for Paddy's to remain open on the basis it was part of the city's "tradition and culture".

The premises, near the Merchant City, has housed the market since 1870, but councillors say it is now run down and "crime-ridden".

Today's Executive Committee meeting will be discussing plans to take over the £100,000-a-year lease of Shipbank lane from owner Network Rail.

Former trader Michael Taplin, 55, was among those outside the City Chambers.

He said he and his mother before him had run a stall in the market.

Mr Taplin said: "The people at the market are not getting justice, they are the ones being victimised.

"The market has been in Glasgow for more than 100 years and it is now more relevant than ever. "It is a way of life for a lot of people."

Trader Hazel McGeachin said: "We are willing to work with the council, we don't want put out.

"We are not the criminals, we don't condone the crime. The traders don't cause the problems."

Trader Brian Daly, whose grandmother set up a clothing stall there, said: "We recognise that there have been problems with Paddy's.

"In many cases we have been trying to highlight these issues ourselves. But the majority of us are law-abiding citizens who are trying to make a living in these tough times.

"For a Labour administration to turn its back on Paddy's, which has been a feature of Glasgow working class life for 150 years, and which is recognised the world over, is a disgrace."

SNP councillor Craig Mackay said he would be supporting the traders.

He added: "Legitimate businesses in Paddy's provide employment for a significant number of people and it is not the council's job to put these out of business.

"Traders must be given the opportunity to negotiate new sub-lets with the council before their leases with Network Rail are terminated.

"This way they could remain in their premises rather than being turfed out on the street."