A DEVELOPER has suffered a major setback after protesters spent just £30 to block his controversial multi-million pound plan for new flats and shops in Glasgow West End.

A DEVELOPER has suffered a major setback after protesters spent just £30 to block his controversial multi-million pound plan for new flats and shops in Glasgow West End.

Hugh Scott didn't register the name of the firm which was to front the development in Otago Lane so opponents adopted the name and legally lodged it with Companies House.

It means the Otago Street Ltd name belongs to the protesters and not the developer.

And the blunder means controversial plans to transform what protesters describe as the city's last Bohemian quarter has been thrown out by council planning chiefs.

Now Mr Scott has to start all over again, but thanks to new planning rules, he will now have to consult with local groups as well as organise at least one public meeting.

Mr Scott wants to build two blocks of more than 150 flats as well as commercial units. One proposed block was to be nine-storeys high while Mr Scott had also wanted to add floors to an existing block of flats.

The plans infuriated existing residents of the lane and local businesses.

Martin Fell warned he would be forced to close his Tchai-Ovna Tea House in Otago Lane, while near neighbour Peter Ashby, who owns Mixed Up Records, says he too will be forced out of business.

A spokesman for the campaigners said: "We know this will only delay the process for three months. We know the plans will be resubmitted. But a change in the planning regulations means Hugh Scott will have to consult more.

"Opposition to this development is growing all the time. Over 1700 people have signed a protest petition, 350 letters of objection were lodged with the council and politicians from all parties are now backing us."

One of them is Labour MSP Pauline McNeill who said: "All credit to the campaigners. They have at least forced the developer into public consultation. This really is a massive development planned for a tiny lane in the West End."

The original proposal was lodged with the city council at the end of July just days before the new planning legislation came into force on August 3.

The developer could not be contacted but his agent Colin Campbell, while refusing to comment on the mix-up, insisted the project would trigger a "vast improvement" to the area.