OFFICIALS with concerns over the handling of Glasgow City Council's abandoned facelift of the city's George Square should be given whistleblower protection, opposition leaders claim.

The call comes after it emerged the Labour leader of the council faces accusations of misconduct over the project, which, if proved, could end his career.

The accusations are based on the claims of a former senior council officer, who has lodged a complaint with Scotland's ethics watchdog claiming Gordon Matheson violated the Councillors' Code of Conduct during a design competition for the £15 million project.

Mr Matheson remains confident of being cleared, but faces claims of interfering in a legally-binding procurement process, improper bias, attempted staff coercion and trying to steer the contest towards his favoured design.

The complaint was sent last week to the Public Standards Commissioner, who has the power to disqualify councillors, by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), the body that ran the £100,000 design competition.

It includes claims from Kerr Robertson, an RIAS member who, until his retirement a few weeks ago, was the council's lead architect and projects director.

Mr Robertson claims that, despite the contest having to comply with EU procurement law, he was told six weeks before the final judging began that "Gordon Matheson [would] be allowed to choose the winning design" and was told "to ensure the other jury members would fall into line with this".

Revelations of the complaint have led to calls from the SNP and Tories for Mr Matheson to stand down, with internal pressure also mounting ahead of the Glasgow Labour Group agm on May 13.

Graeme Hendry, leader of the SNP group, said: " I am calling on Councillor Matheson to give a personal assurance that neither he, nor anyone on his behalf, will try to intimidate anyone else who may come forward to whistleblow on his or anyone else's behaviour over George Square.

"I would encourage any officers current or past who feel rules have been broken to come forward. There is no doubt that Councillor Matheson has damaged Glasgow's reputation by his actions. With the Commonwealth Games coming up, he should act in the best interests of this great city and let someone whose probity isn't in question lead us into the Games."

The Herald also understands the RIAS briefed several political parties about the George Square complaint before submitting it to the Standards Commission.

A council spokesman said: "The RIAS is clear it has no evidence of anyone attempting to improperly influence the jury. What is clear is that there was no public appetite for a radical redesign of George Square and that whichever design won we would have gone with the public's view."