Labour was last night accused by Alex Salmond of being in a "blind panic" and deliberately removing voters from the Glasgow East by-election by holding the contest on July 24 - in the middle of the Glasgow Fair holiday.

Labour was last night accused by Alex Salmond of being in a "blind panic" and deliberately removing voters from the Glasgow East by-election by holding the contest on July 24 - in the middle of the Glasgow Fair holiday.

The First Minister's attack came within hours of the writ for the by-election being moved at Westminster.

Bookies put Labour as odds-on to lose the Scottish seat left vacant by the resignation of David Marshall on health grounds. His majority was 13,507. Ladbrokes placed the SNP at 8/13 to win, with Labour at 6/5.

Labour HQ swiftly hit back at the SNP leader's attack, branding it "ill-judged nonsense" and saying the writ was moved yesterday to ensure the constituency was not without an MP for months.

However, Westminster watchers have already noted that if the by-election went against Gordon Brown, the prime minister would want the bad news out of the way so that he could regroup his forces during the parliamentary recess in time for the autumn party conference.

Underlining how heated the political debate in the seat has already become, Mr Salmond said: "Labour are in a blind panic over the Glasgow East by-election. It is extraordinary and unprecedented for Labour to hold a Glasgow by-election during the Glasgow Fair; they are running scared of the electorate."

A spokesman for Labour said Mr Salmond appeared not to understand the parliamentary process and Labour was not prepared to allow the voters of Glasgow East to be unrepresented until the autumn. He also insisted the Glasgow Fair holiday was not like in the 1950s, when many factory workers left the city.

Labour and the SNP are due to announce their local candidates later this week; the former is expected to choose George Ryan, a councillor. The Conservatives have confirmed that Davena Rankin, who previously stood in Glasgow Kelvin and Glasgow Cathcart, will be the candidate.