EAST Lancashire councils have paid out £88.8million in government grants to 8,030 businesses to tide them over the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The cash - in sums of £10,000 and £25,000 – is to support small and medium-sized firms especially in the hospitality industry – forced to close or scale down because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Blackburn with Darwen borough has paid out £23.5m to 2,095 businesses – half the total believed to be eligible.

Hyndburn Council has paid £18.6m to 1,724 businesses.

At 92.19 per cent of eligible firms that makes it the fourth-best performing council in the country according to Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy statistics.

Ribble Valley Borough has given out £14m in grants to 1,252 businesses -77.2 per cent of the total.

Burnley Council has paid out £9.35m to 790 firms - 35.8 per cent of those eligible.

Pendle Borough has sent out £14.75m to 1,363 businesses - 59 per cent of the total entitled to grants.

Rossendale Council’s figure is £8,7m to 806 businesses - 49 per cent of the those eligible.

Cllr Phil Riley, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s growth boss, said: “Our teams are working incredibly hard to make sure every business which is eligible and have submitted the correct information get the funds as quickly as possible.

“The teams have been working from before 7am in the morning until after 9pm at night and at weekends to get these payments processed.”

Hyndburn Council leader, Cllr Miles Parkinson, said: “Our staff have worked incredibly hard in difficult circumstances to ensure this money, a lifeline to many local businesses, has reached them as soon as possible. We are also continuing our efforts to identify and pay out the remainder of the funds as quickly as we can.”

Mick Cartledge, chief executive of Burnley Council, said “To date only 60 per cent of eligible businesses have contacted the council and completed an application form. We urge the other 886 businesses to come forward as soon as possible.”

Ribble Valley Council leader Cllr Stephen Atkinson said: “We have already paid £14m to around 78 per cent of businesses meeting the government’s eligibility criteria.

“This is a tremendous achievement given that we are dealing with a large number of grants and need to carry out checks to ensure we pay the correct businesses.”

Cllr Alyson Barnes, leader of Rossendale Council, said: “The council is very keen to play its part and support local businesses.”