ACTOR Robert Carlyle was among more than 1000 people who staged a protest in the Botanic Gardens to show their opposition to a plan for a nightclub in the park.

He was with his wife and children and spoke of his "anger" at the nightclub proposal.

The star of Trainspotting and The Full Monty, who grew up on one side of the gardens in Maryhill and now lives on the other side with his family in Dowanhill, said: "My family and I use this park about three or four times a week, but it's not about me, it's about the thousands of people who regularly use the gardens.

"I am really interested in the history of Glasgow and it angers me so much that anyone could try to claim ownership of even just one square foot of this park; it belongs collectively to the people of this great city."

As they arrived at the gates of the gardens, a piper greeted the protesters, while in the park the Kirkintilloch Kelvin Brass Band played as people planted miniature flags in the plot of land where the proposed bar would be built.

The bar and nightclub plan has met with vehement opposition across the city since news of it emerged last year.

G1 Group, the leisure chain owned by Glasgow entrepreneur Stefan King, initially wanted to spend £7m developing the site of a disused Victorian railway station on the southern edge of the park into a nightclub and cafe/bar.

Save Our Botanics, a group set up to oppose the scheme, has campaigned against the move, but there have been reports Mr King is ready to abandon the nightclub element of the plan.

However, it is not known if G1 still intends to create a bar on the site, which is also opposed by Save Our Botanics.

The scheme has turned into one of the most contentious planning disputes in the city for years and opposition to it has come from every quarter.

Academics, artists, authors and stage and screen celebrities were among the 4000 people who signed a petition opposing the plans.

Novelist and artist Alasdair Gray, Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch and actors Paul Riley, Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan from TV comedy Still Game have joined the campaign.

Professor John C Brown, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, has threatened to resign in protest.

Many of those opposed to the scheme are connected to Glasgow University, as students or staff, and a number of senior professors have been involved in the protests.

David Howat, chairman of Save Our Botanics, said: "Although we have heard the nightclub plans may have been dropped, there has been no official confirmation of this.

"We remain concerned that even if the nightclub scheme is abandoned, some other kind of licensed premises will take its place. That, too, would be unacceptable to us.

"There is a real need in the gardens for a proper visitors' centre, perhaps incorporating a cafe or restaurant, and there would be no problem with that being licensed.

"But we are fundamentally opposed to the leasing of a part of the gardens to a company such as G1."

Kelvin MSP Pauline McNeill said: "I'm hopeful that at the very least the nightclub element has been dropped, but we must continue campaigning until that is confirmed."

LibDems' MSP Robert Brown said: "It's great to see so many people here because people power is a very important factor in issues such as this."