THE owner of an African cafe and deli that once fed Nelson Mandela has hit out after flyposters were plastered over her shop window.

Jeni Ayris, who recently closed Ndebele in Tollcross after failing to find a buyer for the eatery, said she felt like she was being "kicked while she was down" after the front of the premises was covered with posters advertising an upcoming club night.

Other traders in the street say flyposting has become a real nuisance.

Ms Ayris said: "I'm in the process of closing down, but I'm visibly in the shop every day.

"Yet the other night the front was flypostered – I'm furious."

The 42-year-old South African, who opened the Home Street cafe in 1997, added: "He's put about eight posters over my windows. It's like someone covering up your windows when you're at home."

She added: "It's people kicking me when I'm down. These people who do it get away with it."

John Saunderson, a local butcher and chairman of Tollcross Traders' Association, said shopkeepers had complained to police and the city council on numerous occasions about the flyposting.

"It's really terrible," he said. "The flyposters and graffiti really bring the area down.

"The former Favorit cafe is being renovated and it's forever getting flypostered. It's usually closed shops, or ones that are boarded up.

"The posters are just slapped on higgledy-piggledy. The council comes down now and again and takes them off, but sometimes they can't get the glue off."

Mr Saunderson said a new approach was needed to tackle those responsible.

"During the Festival they put drums up in the city centre and encourage people to use them for flyposters. I don't know if it would work here – it might keep them in one place."

Saleem Ali, assistant manager of Tollcross Superstore, said flyposting was making Tollcross look "tatty".

"People come in the evening when no-one's about and do it," he said. "Obviously it doesn't look nice. I see them a lot during the day, with their bucket and posters. Or they'll pull up in a van, put up posters, and then away they go."

Councillor Paul Edie, community safety leader, said plans for a no-tolerance zone were currently being discussed with traders.

He said: "We recognise that flyposting is a problem in Tollcross. However, shop owners have a responsibility to maintain the frontages of their properties.

"Should any proprietor wish to make use of the council's specialist removal team, we would be delighted to offer assistance."

Ndebele catered for then-South African president Mandela when he attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in Edinburgh in 1997, sending South African food to his hotel.

It closed after Ms Ayris – who is moving to Jamaica to run a coffee shop – failed to find a buyer.

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