SHE was dubbed "Battling Betty - the champion of the East End" for her tireless campaigns to improve lives in the area.

She even told former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher exactly what she thought of the Poll Tax when the Premier visited Glasgow in the 1980s.

And now tributes have been paid to Betty McAllister for her 30 years of community work in her beloved Calton.

As reported in the Evening Times yesterday, she died last week aged 79.

The former Evening Times Scotswoman of the Year was at the helm of numerous associations and campaigns in the East End where she was born in 1931.

Today her daughter Daniella, 42, paid tribute to her mum, who had been fighting cancer since last summer.

She said: "She was a feisty lady from the East End. She had a vision for Calton and the whole of the East End.

"She wanted to make a difference and she didn't want city planners telling her what they were going to do - she was going to do it.

"Her motto was: if you shout loud enough they'll listen'."

Betty's community work started when she got involved in the regeneration of housing in the East End in the 1980s and set up the first residents' association in Calton. She managed to stop authorities knocking down characterful homes in the area and putting up what she called "Lego boxes".

For 31 years, she also ran "Betty's Club" at the Calton Neighbourhood Centre, providing after-school activities and day trips for local kids.

And Betty always knew how to make the headlines to bring attention to her campaigns.

Her stunts over the years included dressing children in bandages daubed with tomato ketchup for a road safety demonstration and locking a dozen council workers in a compound to try and block plans to move in travellers.

She also led a victorious battle against a hotel planned for a site near Glasgow Green plus a rally against the closure of St Mary's Primary School as well as a call for action over the rundown People's Palace.

And of course when she discovered Mrs Thatcher was visiting Glasgow she had to be there.

Danielle said: "Somebody told her Mrs Thatcher was visiting Templeton Business Park. She marched down there and because she had a big black holdall the police followed her. She got people to make banners up and was shouting that she could shove her poll tax'. She was formidable!"

Betty also ran a seafood shop - Betty's in Bain Street at the Barras Market - for 40 years with sisters Margaret, Jean, and the late Beatrice.

Her best friend, Isabel Little, 71 said as well as being a bonnie fighter, Betty was great fun.

One day she even hatched a mad plan to repatriate the statue of cartoon character Lobby Dosser from the West End of Glasgow and return it to its ancestral home of Calton Creek "She was a very strong and determined person," said Isobel. "She fought a lot of battles for the Calton. We were so close - they called me Betty's sidekick!

"The Calton was Betty. It was her whole life and I really miss her." Betty and her many campaigns for the East End were never far from the front pages

Frank McAveety, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston who had known Betty since the 1980s said: "Betty always put the Calton first.

"She challenged all the folk from the City Chambers - and even Mrs Thatcher!

"She will be missed but her legacy will not be forgotten."

Betty died last week at Glasgow Royal Infirmary after a battle with cancer.

She had been diagnosed with a brain tumour last summer.

Her funeral was held on Monday where the song Danny Boy was played at her request for her husband Danny, 72.

Until her illness Betty was chair of Calton and Bridgeton Community Council and was involved in numerous local groups.

She served in the Land Army during the Second World War was awarded the British Empire Medal for community work in 1980 and the Evening Times Scotswoman of the Year award in 1984. FRANK McAVEETY, MSP for Shettleston: "Betty always put the Calton first. She could be quite argumentative but her heart was always in the right place.

"She will be missed but her legacy as a campaigner and a fighter will not be forgotten." FATHER TOM WELSH, of St Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church in the East End: "Everybody knew Betty. She was very involved in what was happening in Calton and at times didn't make herself popular with the powers that be. She was a committed Christian who didn't like the trappings of Christianity but helped everybody and everything she did was Christian." LORD PROVOST BOB WINTER: "There are people like Betty in every community, prepared to stand up and fight for what they believe in and where they belong.

"That is why I have given my whole-hearted support to campaigns like the Glasgow Community Champion Awards. Without battlers such as Betty many people in the Calton area would not now be receiving the community services they do." FRANK DOCHERTY, councillor for East Centre and Calton: "The woman led with her heart and was selfless.

"She knew what people wanted and would readily tackle injustice.

"She never gave up. It was never about herself, but about a group or individual she was helping out.

"The one thing she cared about was fighting for her beloved Calton".