GLASGOW'S "mini Stonehenge" will be removed as part of plans to transform one of the city's notorious inner areas.

The £200 million-plus scheme for Sighthill was due to be the epicentre of Glasgow's 2018 Youth Olympics, but will still go ahead despite the city failing to secure the event.

The plans mean the end of the road for the Sighthill Stones, which were built in the late 1970s as Britain's first authentically aligned stone circle in more than 3000 years.

The campaign to save them has won support from several key identities in the creative community, notably Stuart Braithwaite, guitarist with the rock band Mogwai, whose late father John helped build them.

Acclaimed author and artist Alasdair Gray and Professor John Brown, the Queen's official astronomer to Scotland, have also backed the campaign.

Glasgow City Council has pledged to relocate the stones, with a number of alternative sites identified. Duncan Lunan, the astronomer and science writer behind the original scheme, has welcomed the promise of a new feature using the original stones.

The council said the feature could not be retained due to the topography of the area and the need to level the ground for the wider development. Plans for the area would also block the sunlight required to give the circles any purpose.

Alternative sites include within parkland in the redeveloped Sighthill, or Springburn Park in the north, one of the highest points in Glasgow.

A planned gig later this month in support of the stones, featuring some of Scotland's leading musicians such as Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat, Eugene Kelly, former Delgados member Emma Pollock and the band Remember Renumber, will still go ahead.

Mr Lunan said: "We've discussed the setting up of a new astronomical project and creating a new type of monument incorporating the stones. That was positive and since the stones can't survive in their present site and form, this is an encouraging way forward.

"It can't be copied so it will be something new and original relating to Glasgow's ancient history. I hope and expect the city council to stick to their word on this."

The attempt to win the Youth Olympics brought forward the transformation of Sighthill by up to 20 years, and the redevelopment is being billed as the legacy of Glasgow's bid.

It will be one of the biggest projects undertaken in the city's recent history.

The plans will create about 650 homes in low-rise apartment and housing blocks on the site of the Pinkston flats in Sighthill, and a further 141 homes for social rent at the already demolished Fountainwell multi-storeys.

The plans also include a school campus, which includes community and sports facilities, a village square, a new bridge over the M8, a network of green spaces linking the area to the city centre, small shops, student accommodation and a potential hotel development.

Sighthill is the largest of eight districts in Glasgow known as Transformational Regeneration Areas. Regeneration is under way in Laurieston, just to the south of the Clyde.

The population in Sighthill is 1100, with the hope it will rise to more than 3000 by the project's completion.

Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "The plans for Sighthill are tremendously exciting and bring forward the transformation of the area by 20 years. While we were disappointed by the Youth Olympic Games decision, one legacy of our fantastic bid will be the creation of a very attractive place in which to live, work and study.

"The regeneration of Sighthill will continue our work to unlock the massive potential of the north side of the city centre."