THE Orange Order says it will defy any attempt to scrap early-morning marches by the organisation during this summer's loyalist demonstrations.

Last year, parades did not take place before 9am during the annual Twelfth of July commemorations of the 1690 Battle of the Boyne, following an agreement with Glasgow City Council.

Council officials say it was a "positive step" and are keen to discuss similar arrangements for this year's event. It is understood the move was seen as a success by helping to minimise disruption to local communities and shorten the extensive police operation required for the parades.

But Orange Order leaders claim the council is now trying to "ban" early-morning marches as part of an erosion of their marching rights.

Edward Hyde, grand secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland, said: "They have said you can't play music before 9am and we would comply with that, but they just don't want these parades to go ahead."

Hyde acknowledged he had issued a request to lodges not to hold early-morning parades last year. But he said it was a compromise made with the council to enable all parades to go ahead, after some lodges failed to comply with the requirement to give 28 days' notice of their march.

He claimed the council had now told him it would be a "backward step" to reintroduce early morning marches, which implied they wished to ban them. Hyde said he would be pushing for the early-morning marches to take place and claimed the earliest any were likely to start was around 8.30am.

Hyde said: "Everybody has the right to express their feelings, everybody has the right to express their freedom, everybody has the right to express their culture. All the institution is doing is expressing that right."

The annual Grand County Orange Order Parade is Scotland's largest, attracting around 10,000 marchers, followers and spectators. It is believed to cost around £600,000 a year to police.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "There is no ban on marches in the morning and we have absolutely no intention of introducing one. Last year, the Order did not hold any early-morning marches as part of this event, which we felt was a positive step. We are keen to discuss that success as part of the planning process for this year, but no more than that."

Earlier this month a survey revealed that almost three-quarters of Scots want Orange and Irish Republican-themed parades banned. In Strathclyde alone there are more than 1000 parades a year.

Researchers from Stirling University will this year undertake a major study of the impact of marches and parades in Scotland, a task commissioned by the Scottish Government's Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "This Government is committed to getting the proper balance between the right of people to march and the right of communities to be protected. There are no proposals to change policy."