Workers at a recycling plant have been turned away after their employer lost the contract to work on the site.

Staff employed by contractor Interserve were locked out after turning up for their shift at the Polmadie waste recycling base in the south side of Glasgow on Thursday.

The move comes around three weeks after Interserve was handed a notice of termination to its contract at the site.

The new £154m Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRRC) has been hit with problems since Interserve began construction in 2013.

The firm has had its contract axed due to a catalogue of issues and delays with the project.

The new centre was due to open earlier this year but is still not complete.

Up to 150 construction and engineering workers on the project are facing the sack for Christmas following the dispute.

Union GMB Scotland says it has obtained copies of letters confirming that workers will receive just one week's notice of termination of employment with no rights to any statutory redundancy pay.

The union will now lodge a collective appeal and grievance on behalf of its members affected and has called for Viridor to transfer the workers to the new sub-contractor.

GMB Scotland senior organiser Tony Dowling said: "This ranks among the most callous treatment of workers I've come across in years - our members have been kept totally in the dark while relations between Interserve and Viridor were collapsing.

"Our members have family commitments and mortgages to take care of and they've arrived for work this morning only to be locked out of the site and then served with the sack by their employer just two weeks before Christmas.

"The behaviour of Interserve is beneath contempt but Viridor should now do the right thing and ensure that the workers affected are transferred to whoever the new contractor of choice will be for the completion of the Polmadie site.

"In the meantime, we will enact the available appeals processes on behalf of our members to protect their interests as best we can."

A statement from Interserve said: "Last month we were served notice of termination on the Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy project, which came into effect today.

"As a result, we will no longer be working on the project, meaning some 150 roles are at risk. We will, where possible, look to redeploy affected employees in other parts of the business."

A spokesman for Viridor said: "Viridor has terminated its contract with Interserve as a last resort, in the best interests of the project.

"We are moving quickly to ensure continuity of delivery and are working hard to retain the majority of the existing supply chain."