One of Glasgow's oldest theatres has hit out at the criteria set for a relief fund.

Bosses behind the Pavillion Theatre expressed disappointment after the venue failed to meet criteria set out for the new Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund. Run by Creative Scotland, the fund will support the venues which will be among the last to open as lockdown restrictions ease.

However, in order to qualify for a grant from the £12.5million fund, venues must either already receive funding from Creative Scotland, be a registered charity, or be a council owned or operated venue.

Not falling into any of those three categories, Iain Gordon, general manager of the Pavillion Theatre expressed his frustrations and said: "Did we expect more? In honesty ... probably not, but all we asked for was to be treated fairly, and considered for this funding relief in the same way as everybody else, after all, we do as much for the people of Glasgow and beyond in providing all round family friendly affordable entertainment as any of the others.

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He added that The Pavillion Theatre was not part of the "clique" supported by "regular annual generous handouts".

A total of £7.5m of the funding will be directed towards performing arts venues which receive regular funding from Creative Scotland.

The other £5m will form an open fund for venues which are either a charity or council owned. Iain added: "Creative Scotland have a very chequered history and should not be involved in this funding allocation. They are picking the easy way out and giving this to their so-called friends and favourites and making it impossible for others."

Creative Scotland chief executive Iain Munro explained that more support will be announced and said: “The funds announced so far are not, by any means, the end of the support to be offered and there will be more announcements to come, not least in terms of how the £97m announced by the UK Government for culture and heritage in Scotland is to be applied.

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A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We do not underestimate the devastating impact this pandemic has had on Scotland’s culture sector, particularly for organisations which rely on audiences and live performances.

"At the outset of the pandemic we acted quickly to provide unprecedented financial support and though it will not be possible to reach every person affected by the impact of the pandemic, we are actively considering what more we can do.

“We are working closely with stakeholders to develop guidance to help performances resume and venues reopen as soon as it is safe to do so. We’re determined to do all we can to help the sector though this difficult time and into recovery so that they can continue to make a vibrant and rich contribution to Scotland.”

However, the Pavillion Theatre manager added that he is confident that they will be "bigger and better" once they can reopen their doors.

Iain said: " The theatre will be brighter than ever before and we have a lot to catch up on, so look out for some great Pavilion shows in 2021."