THE first images of a proposed park built on top of the M8 have been revealed - but the scheme is yet to be approved.

Plans include roof top gardens covering the motorway at Charing Cross, with feasibility work starting in the spring.

The M8 idea, initially revealed in 2015, was floated as part of a wider vision to transform the area around Sauchiehall Street and Garnethill by making it more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly.

But in the year since, the council has committed to procuring the feasibility work in late spring, with work including traffic modelling, engineering and site investigations, as well as economic analysis, getting underway in the autumn.

The final decision on whether or not to improve the project will not take place until next year.

Design company Keppie has held discussions with local authority officials on the M8 concept, which has echoes of New York's High Line or the Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, with the firm believing it could have a transformative effect in Glasgow similar to Manchester's regeneration or the impact of the 1988 Garden Festival.

Details of the city council's proposed milestones comes as Charles Rennie Mackintosh's architectural practices publishes images of how a scheme could radically alert the city's landscape, giving landmark buildings like the Mitchell Library new prominence.

The council said it had also been working closely with the team behind the Klyde Warren Park, which covered a busy city centre freeway and opened in 2012.

David Ross is design director at Keppie, which recently worked with the firm behind the High Line, whole areas of New York transformed with parks and gardens built on disused rail tracks.

He said that one the back of work on commercial and civic buildings in Glasgow the firm became aware its ideas for the city’s future public spaces struck a chord with many in the local authority.

Mr Ross said: "The vision in, say Manchester, is predicated on a vibrant mix of people-focused inner city connections and public spaces where transport infrastructure isn’t developed at the cost of its urban realm.

"That took us to the Mitchell Library, and the disconnect of the city grid created by the wound of the M8. As part of the bigger vision, we had some ideas about how this wound could be healed, but without losing the necessary accessibility that the city needs in order to function.

"We feel really strongly about such a coherent vision. Almost 30 years ago, the Garden Festival changed the city’s perception of itself. It changed our expectations for the city, and the pebble dropped by the administration then had ripples which are still being felt today. But perhaps we now need another pebble creating a stronger series of ripples."

Council leader Frank McAveety said: ”This is a truly inspiring project but also one that is complex as it is ambitious. We must get the groundwork right and take time to create something that benefits the city while delivering a new public space that attracts and connects people and places. "Coupled with the other projects coming forward as part of the Sauchiehall and Garnethill regeneration project will ensure that we make this a prominent place in the city’s life.”

A spokesman for the opposition SNP group said: "We are very keen to see a fresh approach which allows new ideas to be developed within the council and help to connect people and place. This is the kind of fresh approach that moves beyond just building roads and student flats and deserves to be explored further."