Here is a tale of two Domes which both cost millions of pounds in public money so they could be used for entertainment.

The Millennium Dome was built in London four years ago as a spectacular venue, both for the first year of exhibitions and afterwards.

The Dome in Brighton was built 200 years earlier as royal stables and needed renovation so it could fit the needs of the new century.

Here the similarity ends. The Dome in Greenwich was a huge financial flop. It never attracted the expected crowds and even now its future has not been assured.

The Dome in Brighton, along with the neighbouring museum, cost £35 million to renovate but the result has been generally welcomed both by residents and visitors.

Brighton and Hove council taxpayers got off remarkably lightly from the capital cost of restoration. They put in only about £2 million.

But next week councillors will be asked to put their hands into their civic pockets to help towards the running costs of the Dome, which is run by Brighton Festival.

It is not a good time to make such a decision when the council is already facing an £18 million financial black hole and it is a pity the festival got its sums wrong a few years ago.

But a significant part of the city's economy is arts based and the Dome is at the centre of it.

Councillors should face the flak, agree the money and give thanks they are not having to deal with that other Dome 60 miles away in Greenwich.