THE family of the late American author Ernest Hemingway have ordered a city restaurant to change its name.

Alan Dexter was astonished to get a lawyer's letter from heirs to the writer's estate demanding he rename Hemingway's in Princes Square.

He has been in the restaurant trade for 27 years and opened the eaterie in June.

He asked if they could compromise if he changed the spelling. But the tone of further e-mails made it clear the New York law firm was serious.

They gave him until March to ditch the name or face legal proceedings.

The letter from Gary Schmidt, of Sweeny Lev, said: "It has come to our attention that you are operating a restaurant called Hemingway's Seafood Grill & Cocktail Bar in Glasgow which is represented in your promotional material as being named after Ernest Hemingway."

Mr Dexter, 50, said: "I suggested changing the spelling to Hemingday's. But the author's two sons said that couldn't be done."

Hemingway, whose works include For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Sun Also Rises, often worked in Key West, Florida, where Mr Dexter spent a family holiday and got the inspiration for the name.

He was given the option of licensing the name for $25,000 to cover past use plus an annual $10,000 fee.

But he decided it was safer to ditch the Hemingway's monicker and the eaterie will now be known as Cafe Noir - after a bistro chain he founded in the 80s and which had a branch in Queen Street.

It will cost him a small fortune to change the corporate identity, livery and branding.

He said: "I've spent £35,000 in branding and now I have to start again. Everything has to change, from menus to blinds." WHAT'S IN A NAME? OTHER LEGAL FIGHTS Irish boyband Westlife lost a court battle in 2004 to register as a trademark - the name's too like German tobacco firm West. Stefan King, boss of the G1 Group got the trademark for Bloody Marys in Shawlands, forcing a West End bar to be renamed Booly Mardys. The Beatles' Apple Corps lost a fight with Apple Computers over the use of the Apple logo. In 2004, Glasgow wedding designer Joyce Young, selling under the label By Storm, fell foul of Storm watches.