A number of businesses which had to close when the second lockdown came into force will be eligible for one-off grants.

Wiltshire Council has launched its Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme after receiving more than £7 million from the government.

The scheme is aimed at businesses required to close from November 5.

However, there are fears the support might not be enough to compensate for loss of income.

Businesses with properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under will receive grants of £1,334.

Those with properties with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 will receive grants of £2,000 while businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or over will receive grants of £3,000.

Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “We are pleased to be launching this new scheme to help more businesses in the county access much-needed financial support. We hope this will help provide some breathing space until they can reopen their business again on 2 December.

“I would strongly encourage businesses to complete the online application form and provide all the necessary information to avoid any delays with assessing your application.

“We have mobilised a team of over 40 members of staff, the majority of whom have been redeployed from other roles within the council, to administer these grants and are aiming to make the first payments next week.”

Wiltshire Council says it has also been awarded a further £10 million for the Additional Restrictions Grant.

This discretionary grant scheme will support businesses required to close or severely affected by the national restrictions that don't pay business rates.

Cllr Whitehead added: “We are working up the detail of how to award the money to businesses in Wiltshire who are most in need of financial support and will publish these details and launch this additional scheme shortly.

“We appreciate the enormous stress businesses are under and we will continue to play our part to ensure our businesses and local economy are supported long-term.”