More than 10 million meals were claimed as part of the new Government plan to boost the UK's restaurants after months of lockdown.

In Lancashire and the North West businesses said they had been 'overwhelmed' by the number of bookings in the first three days of the offer.

The Treasury said it had been sent 10,540,394 claims for individual meals from restaurants as part of the Eat Out to Help Out programme.

The policy gives diners 50% off their meal, up to a maximum of £10 per person, which is covered by the government.

If two people eat out together, they count as two individual meals in the statistics.

It means that a maximum of £105.4 million can have been claimed in the first week of the scheme, which runs on every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August.

READ > Eat Out to Help Out: Where you can get 50 per cent off food in Lancashire

The Treasury has put aside £500 million to pay for the programme.

The around 83,000 restaurants that have signed up to the Eat Out scheme so far take off 50% of a customer's bill at the till and are reimbursed by the Treasury. "Britons are eating out to help out in big numbers.

And they aren't just getting a great deal - they're supporting the almost two million people employed in this sector," said chancellor Rishi Sunak. "These amazing figures show that our plan for jobs is delivering." The scheme will run for every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August. Food delivery is not included.