A former Lord Provost of Glasgow has said the time for public marches has passed amid a spate of violent altercations in the city centre.

Michael Kelly, who held the position from 1980 to 1984, slammed the disruption the marches cause to citizens in the city, as well as the money spent on policing the demonstrations, which have turned violent in the past several weeks.

A major police operation was launched at the weekend to deal with an Irish Republican march and Loyalist protestors, where 11 people were arrested - including a 14-year-old boy.

And last week, riot police were deployed to Govan after the two groups clashed, causing a number to be arrested.

READ MORE: Glasgow to be hit with month of marches with 14 processions planned in next three weeks

Mr Kelly has now said that all marches should be banned, regardless of their cause.

Speaking to John Beattie on BBC Radio Scotland, Mr Kelly said: "I think their time has passed and I would refer to all marches as far as that’s concerned.

"I think in today’s mass communication with social media, the ability to petition parliament and get a discussion, marches are now redundant.

"As long as you’ve got an alternative to make your voice heard and your rights are not being infringed upon in that way, I would discourage all forms of marches in the city centres because of the huge disruption and cost that they cause."

It emerged today that over 3,000 people will march through Glasgow in the next three weeks with different groups, which is expected to cause mass disruption.

READ MORE: Full list of all 14 marches scheduled for Glasgow this month

"I think that these are 19th-century devices and as democracy was developing, with no telephones, nevermind having no social media, people had to have a way of expressing their opinion.

"And therefore marches and demonstrations were a valid way of expressing that opinion.

"Now, you don’t need that. It’s quite clear that people can demonstrate what their views are on a whole range of subjects to the proroguing of parliament, to the orange marches, to the republican marches, to protest against student loans."

Glasgow City Council said they knew the marches were draining police resources and said they would consider the community impact in the future.

A spokesman said: “We want to thank the police for everything they did to ensure trouble was kept to a minimum on Saturday.

“But with 14 processions coming up this month alone, we know this kind of march continues to disrupt Glasgow’s communities and impact on policing outside the city.

“We will be very carefully considering that community impact when we receive notifications of processions in the future.”