INVERCLYDE Council spent nearly £27,000 on the Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay event in the district.

Live entertainment for the throngs of people who revelled in the party atmosphere totalled £7,699.

Meanwhile the bill for the hire of barriers came in at £8,655 and security cost the council £3,595.75.

But compared with neighbouring authorities — including North Ayrshire, where bosses splashed out more than £150,000 — the local figures appear to have delivered better value for money.

Details of the amounts spent by all of Scotland’s 32 councils during the 40-day baton tour have been released following a series of co-ordinated Freedom of Information requests and show an overall nationwide spend of £1.7 million.

The total spent in Inverclyde was £26,931.

That equates to just 33 pence for every man, woman and child in the district based on the 2011 census population figure for the area.

Other items which contributed to the final bill were employee/overtime costs of £1,788.90, marquee hire at £145, stage and PA hire costing £3,320, litter collection at £1,350, generator hire at £62.35 and miscellaneous costs of £304.74.

Renfrewshire splashed out £55,122 on its celebrations, East Renfrewshire had an outlay of £48,295, East Dunbartonshire spent £44,163, West Dunbartonshire £15,459 and North Ayrshire £150,007.

Municipal Buildings bosses in Greenock today said that certain aspects of the Baton visit to Inverclyde were beyond their control.

A council spokesman said: “The Baton Relay visited every part of Inverclyde throughout 14 July and the following morning.

“It proved to be a very popular event and even the weather in the afternoon didn’t dampen spirits.

“Behind the scenes there was an enormous amount of planning across the council with our partners and the national organisers to make sure that we were prepared for every eventuality.

“There were some parts of the day that were directly within the control of the council but also others that were requirements set out by the national organisers who had taken the baton across all of the Commonwealth countries in the lead up to the games in Glasgow.

“Like every other council we were expected to comply with these requirements.” The spokesman added: “Where possible we tried to limit their impact or combine them with other activity without detracting from the spectacle and excitement of the baton’s visit.

“One example is our end of day celebration.

“There was a specific requirement on staging and barriers, one of the biggest direct costs.

“But the council combined the end of day celebration for the baton with the end of a day of activity at Battery Park for the Youth in the Park event.

“This meant that costs such as barriers and staging could have a dual purpose.”