Thousands of migrant Slovakians living in the space of just a few streets on the south side of Glasgow face exploitation and dangerous overcrowding, according to a leading lawyer.

Mike Dailly, who is principal solicitor for the Govan Law Centre, says plans are well advanced to set up a law centre in Govanhill, to help protect ethnic Roma Slovakians and other members of the community.

Since Slovakia joined the EU in 2004, the authorities in Glasgow have had to cope with a huge influx of migrant workers and their families. Estimates of the population vary between 1000 and 5000.

Many are living in overcrowded flats, with three families often sharing a standard tenement. This accommodation is often without written tenancy agreements and overpriced. The four blocks where the majority of families live include many flats which are officially below tolerable standard, but rents of £650 a month are not unknown.

Mr Dailly said the Roma population had been widely persecuted in Eastern Europe, but there was no excuse for such conditions in Glasgow. "They are an ethnic people who have been really scapegoated over the years," he said. "There is no way we should be allowing this to go on."

He said that a Govanhill Law Centre would help establish the rights of migrant workers. Meanwhile he said they should be supplied with social housing.

Mr Dailly's views were backed by Anne Lear, director of Govanhill Housing Association. "We still have scenes of poverty comparable to 1960s slums," she said.