An overwhelming majority of people who responded to an online Courier poll criticised the amount paid to a celebrity to switch on Perth’s Christmas lights.
It emerged at the end of last week that The Only Way is Essex star Mark Wright was paid £7,000 plus VAT for a one-hour appearance, along with extras such as flights and local transport.
The revelation unearthed by a freedom of information request by The Courier provoked a flurry of criticism from councillors and politicians.
MSP Liz Smith questioned whether taxpayers in Perth and Kinross would believe it was money well spent and the poll findings back up her fears.
Asked whether Perth and Kinross Council was right to pay the television celebrity £7,000 to turn on Christmas lights, some 91% (409 respondents) said no, while 9% (42 people) said the decision was correct.
The council is adamant that the economic benefits justified the expenditure 90,000 people visited Perth on the day of the switch-on and additional spend was up £1.8 million for the day.
“Looking at these statistics, we are very proud of the decisions we took to hire well-known artists that would attract people to the city centre,” said the council leader, Councillor Ian Miller.
The FOI request revealed Eric Faulkner’s Bay City Rollers received £2,995 plus VAT and the Britain’s Got Talent finalists Luminites received £5,000 plus VAT.