A further £1.8million is being made available to West Suffolk businesses that are not eligible for the Government's Restart Grant.

The Government recently launched the Restart Grant with a one-off payment to help businesses in the ratings system reopen safely.

Now using discretionary funding from the government, West Suffolk Council is launching the ARG restart payment to help some businesses who are ineligible for the government scheme but have business property costs.

These include market traders, businesses in shared premises that are not the rate payer, and supply chain businesses to retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism.

Businesses in that category that were able to open on April 1, will also receive a payment based on 70% of the ARG restart grant to businesses that were closed.

Julie Baird, director for growth at West Suffolk Council, said: "As restrictions lift and we move into the recovery phase, the aim of this one-off payment is to help businesses reopen in a Covid secure and safe way.”

An automatic payment will be sent to businesses in these categories who previously received ARG grants.

Those who have not applied for the grants can still apply on the council's website.