Robert Macintyre, who has vociferously complained of the effect a ban on parking on the prom will have on the rest of the town, asked Inspector Macdonald Stephen of Strathclyde Police at BCC's June meeting if he knew how many of the cars parked on the prom belonged to daily commuters.

"Do you not think an amnesty should be given to those cars until work has been completed on the pier?" the councillor asked.

The inspector replied that public concern on the issue was such that the police would not contemplate any such amnesty, prompting Cllr Macintyre to claim: "That public concern has been voiced by one person."

That drew a stinging rebuke from several BCC members, among them Eileen Cameron, who has been equally vociferous in her criticism of the prom - which, by dictionary definition, is an area for walking - being used for car parking.

Cllr Macintyre apologised for singling out Mrs Cameron but insisted: "The public concern has mostly come from BCC meetings. We are going to have a huge problem if parked vehicles are chased off the prom.

"If they are all put off the prom they will just park along the front and the parking problem in Rothesay will become more acute than it has ever been.

"There is no groundswell of opinion on this island against parking on the prom. I apologise to Mrs Cameron, but there was parking on the prom before when Montague Street was closed and surely it is plain common sense that something along those lines could be done now."

Since the BCC meeting, Cllr Macintyre has told us that as far as harbour staff are aware none of the cars parking on the prom are used by daily commuters, all of them belonging to those either involved with the pier building work or people permanently employed in the harbour area.

* Is Cllr Macintyre right? Is there no strong feeling on Bute against parking on the prom? Should it be preseved for pedestrians - or is it the ideal place for parked cars, either temporarily or on a permanent basis? Register or sign in below to tell us what you think.