Eat Out to Help Out: Burnley and Padiham diners claim almost 100,000 meals in August

Burnley MP Antony Higginbotham is now urging diners to carry on supporting restaurants across the borough in the months ahead.

In total, more than 100 million meals were claimed across the UK under the scheme, which ran throughout the month of August. A total of 84,700 establishments signed up to the scheme, including 69 in Burnley and Padiham.

Mr Higginbotham and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have hailed the success of the scheme, which was designed to support the hospitality industry after a challenging few months because of coronavirus.

The scheme is credited with protecting 1.8 million jobs across the country, with restaurant bookings significantly up on the previous year.

Data from OpenTable shows bookings increased by an average of 52 per cent on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the whole of August, compared to the same days in 2019.

The Government will continue to support the hospitality industry with a temporary discount to VAT, from 20% to 5%, until January 12th, 2021.

Mr Higginbotham said: “I am absolutely thrilled at the level of support local people in our borough have provided to our brilliant restaurants and hospitality businesses.

"Eat Out to Help Out was always about far more than just giving people money off their meals – it was about protecting jobs which are reliant on businesses which have really struggled through coronavirus.

“I have no doubt that there are businesses in Burnley and Padiham today which, without this brilliant scheme, may not have made it through the summer.

"I hope local people will continue to support them in the months ahead.”

Mr Sunak said: “From the get-go our mission has been to protect jobs- and to do this we needed be creative, brave and try things that no government has ever done before.

“Today’s figures continue to show Eat Out to Help Out has been a success. I want to thank everyone, from restaurant owners to waiters, chefs and diners, for embracing it and helping drive our economic recovery.

“The scheme is just one part of our Plan for Jobs and we will continue to protect, support and create jobs to ensure we come back stronger as a nation.”