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Some of Scotland's best-known writers, artists and academics have slammed Edinburgh city council's decision to permit a Virgin hotel near the Capital's Central Library.

Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin, Jackie Kay and John Byrne are among 19 signatories to a letter to the Times, accusing the council of indulging in a cynical exercise in “asset-stripping” and betraying future generations.

The writers also criticised the council for abandoning earlier proposals to expand the Carnegie library and added that the original building had been a cornerstone of the city’s intellectual life since its foundation in 1890 by Andrew Carnegie.

Scots writers protest against Richard Branson's Edinburgh hotel plans