Public Campaign for the Arts, a 75,000-person network established in response to the pandemic, threw its weight behind the affected organisations.

Spokesperson Jack Gamble said Nottingham City Council had done “absolutely the right thing by consulting people” on the cuts, giving the campaign the opportunity to influence the policy change.

More than 3,650 campaign members engaged with the council’s consultation. Altogether, two thirds of submissions on the council’s budget related to arts and culture, the campaign said.

It said it understood the current pressure on local authority budgets but noted research shows that, on average, councils have cut their culture budgets by a third since 2010.

Gamble added: “This action in Nottingham is the first local action we’ve been able to take as a campaign. Now we have got this network of supporters across the UK, we can keep abreast of political developments.”