More than 1000 people gathered in Glasgow's Botanic Gardens yesterday in the largest demonstration so far against the controversial plan to open a bar and nightclub in the park.

Among the protesters was the actor Robert Carlyle, who spoke of his "anger" at the proposal for a nightclub in the west end park. He attended the demonstration with his wife and children.

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'm 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."

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 on the southern edge of the park into a nightclub and cafe/bar.

Save Our Botanics, a pressure group set up to oppose the scheme, has campaigned relentlessly against the proposal and two weeks ago The Herald reported that the G1 Group was poised to abandon the nightclub element of the plan.

Nevertheless, doubts remain over whether G1 still intends to create a bar on the site, which is also opposed by Save Our Botanics.

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

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 plans.

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

The Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor John C Brown, has even threatened to resign in protest. Many of those opposed to the scheme are connected to the university, either as students or staff, and a number of senior professors have been actively involved in the protests.

David Howat, a solicitor in the west end of the city who is chairman of Save Our Botanics, said afterwards: "Although we have heard that the nightclub plans may have been dropped, there has been no official confirmation of this yet. Nevertheless, 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, one of very few Labour politicians opposed to the scheme from the outset, said: "I'm hopeful that at the very least the nightclub element of this scheme has been dropped. But we must continue campaigning until that is confirmed."

Robert Brown, the Glasgow list Liberal Democrat MSP, said: "It's great to see so many people here because people power is a very important factor in issues such as this one."