Greenock man John Houston, who led the ‘Say No to Beacon Bail-out’ group, had delivered a 327 signature petition to the council saying the arts centre should not be helped while the council faced cutbacks of £7 million.

And after elected members decided to support a £1.2m bail-out deal, he accused the council of not listening to the public.

He shouted ‘shameful’ when the decision was announced, and afterwards told the Tele: “This should not be happening at a time of austerity. We’re bailing out a theatre when other things like education need more money.

“We should have let it go bust and let it be taken over by Inverclyde Leisure as a community asset, or the Beacon could have applied for a loan to a bank.” Mr Houston’s comments were backed by contributors to the Tele’s Facebook page, many of whom branded the rescue as ‘disgraceful’ and ‘a waste of public money’.

But others defended the Beacon, saying it was used by hundreds of local people and questioned whether those who had signed the petition had ever visited.

Council officials confirmed during the emergency full council meeting that the Beacon is a registered charity, and also said it was unlikely it would have been able to borrow the required money from a bank.

The Beacon has already received £8.6m of public money, but needs just under £2m to pay an outstanding builder’s bill or the company which owns and runs it, Greenock Arts Guild, could go into administration with the loss of 61 full and part-time jobs.

Councillors agreed that the local authority will provide £1.8m, and £600,000 of this will be refunded by the Scottish Government.

The council will also provide a further £750,000 spread over eight years ‘to address risks associated with the Beacon’s income stream’.

The council and the government will share proceeds arising from any legal action taken by the Beacon over increased construction costs.

Meanwhile, Tory councillor David Wilson is unhappy that he was not asked to comment on a Beacon report prepared by council officers in December.

During the public part of Thursday’s council meeting, he asked why he had been ignored, and was told the answer would have to be given in private. The public were excluded for about half of the two-hour meeting while ‘confidential’ matters were discussed.

But Councillor Wilson, who was on the Beacon board for 18 months and was also interim chairman of Riverside Inverclyde, said today: “I did not get a proper reply during the private session.

“The December report was not as good as it should have been, with the result that councillors had to ask for more information which should have been in the report.

“When you are dealing with taxpayers’ money there is a duty to investigate all angles to get as much information as possible before coming to a conclusion.” He said, however, that on balance, he believed the right decision was reached to support the Beacon.

The Tele asked the council to comment on Councillor Wilson’s criticism.

A spokesman said: “All councillors have the opportunity to make their views known on issues either direct to officers at any time, at briefings and meetings or formally through the regular cycle of committee meetings.” Further comment on the Beacon was made today by Councillor Ronnie Ahlfeld, who said people who contacted him about it were ‘split down the middle’.

He said: “My concerns, apart from the use of the finance required, were the long term sustainability of the Beacon and the relationships with local amateur groups.

“I have great sympathy with those who wished that the finance be used in other ways and who expressed those views in a civilised manner.” Thursday’s meeting was told by council leader Stephen McCabe that it was ‘unpalatable’ to contemplate closing a £10m theatre.

He said: “The long term viability of the Beacon Arts Centre is good for Greenock, good for Inverclyde and good for the wider arts and cultural offering in Scotland.

“These are difficult times for all public services and difficult decisions are facing the council. The Beacon Arts Centre must now deliver on their business plan and ensure that the support from the council and government is public money well spent.” SNP group leader, Councillor Chris McEleny, said: “The SNP group said wholesale change was required into how the Beacon board and the governance of the Beacon was conducted. This change we called for has happened and we welcome this. We stipulated that we must be ensured the Beacon has a business plan fit for purpose. This stipulation has been met.

“We listened to many people who said community groups felt excluded. It must be seen as a community asset. I am confident this message has well and truly been understood and we will see this happen.” He added that closing down the Beacon would send out an unacceptable message of failure to regenerate Inverclyde and cost jobs in the Beacon, as well as at local hotels and supply chains.

Scottish Government Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop added: “We want to see regeneration and jobs created in Inverclyde, and Scottish Government investment in Greenock is supporting this.

“I want the Beacon, supported by a partnership of public bodies, to be able to build upon its initial success and continue to grow, supporting not just culture and jobs in Greenock, but forming a key part of our national cultural infrastructure.”