INVERCLYDE breathed a sigh of relief 30 years ago this month.

It followed the news that it could become a stand-alone council under local government changes which would see Strathclyde Regional Council abolished in 1996.

In the early hours of February 16, 1994, Scottish Office Minister Allan Stewart told the House of Commons he had accepted Inverclyde’s case for running its own affairs.

Inverclyde had been bitterly opposed to the planned merger with Renfrew.

The campaign to save Inverclyde was supported by all political parties and a petition signed by 38,000 residents.

Welcoming the news, Provost Allan Robertson said it ended uncertainty for Inverclyde’s 1,300 employees who had been worried about their jobs.

Many other jobs would be transferred from Strathclyde to Inverclyde.

Labour leader Harry Mulholland said: “We have to go forward now with these new responsibilities and build on what we have achieved already to improve our economy and the quality of life.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ross Finnie stated: “This is a tremendous victory for everyone who helped save Inverclyde.”

Inverclyde District Council chief executive Bob McPherson said: “We now have continuity rather than a merger that would have damaged staff morale and anaesthetised Inverclyde for a couple of years.”

The Telegraph told readers common sense had prevailed.

It added there never was any doubt the Secretary of State’s original proposals to merge the district with Renfrew were wrong. The people of Inverclyde did not like the idea and neither did the people of Renfrew.

Inverclyde District Council, which was replaced by Inverclyde Council, came into being in 1975 following previous local government reorganisation which brought an end to the former burghs of Greenock, Gourock and Port Glasgow.

Today's flashback photo is of Port Glasgow’s former Holy Family Primary School in Parkhill Avenue.

It was closed in 2006 and later demolished.