A man who runs two wedding companies has not been eligible for government grants because his business was "not mandated for closure" despite the fact weddings are banned during lockdown.

Suhail Patel who runs two wedding businesses - I Stage Weddings and Fruticious Fountains - applied for the Business Support Grant which the government have put in place to support businesses that are unable to operate due to Covid-19.

His application for the grant was denied and Suhail said when he spoke to someone in the Business Growth department of Blackburn with Darwen council and was told if he had a shop window he would be eligible for the grant.

After being told he was unsuccessful for the support grant, Suhail said: "I worked very hard to create this business. I worked very hard to make it my full time business.

"Now, after all that, I got sent that e-mail and my blood was boiling.

"It's from business growth - how are they helping my business grow when we are in the third month of lockdown and we have no weddings or events or anything happening."

The council have confirmed that they received Suhail's application from Fruticious Fountains but it did not fit the criteria for the grant as the business "had not been mandated for closure by the Government" - despite the fact that weddings have been banned in lockdown unless in exceptional circumstances.

He has however been successful in his application for a discretionary grant.

A Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have received an application from Fruticious Fountains however this did not fit the criteria due to rules around business rates eligibility and that it had not been mandated for closure by the Government.

"The company was directed to the separate discretionary grant funding and this application has been successful and will be paid in the coming days."

Since the pandemic hit and all large weddings have been cancelled, Suhail has been unable to work as his work comes from Asian weddings where they usually invite hundreds of people.

Part of Suhail's frustration stems from business owners he knows that have been able to remain open for click and collect services, yet they have been able to claim these grants.

He added: "It was January when I applied for the grant and in February they contacted me saying I had been rejected.

"Then I requested to speak to the manager. She spoke to me and said that my building is classed as a workshop so I can carry on with my work and that I am not forced to closed down.

"I said 'I am forced to close down because my business is closed'."

To keep money coming in, Suhail has taken a full time job delivering parcels for Amazon while he has no other source of income to support his family or keep his overheads for his businesses.

Even as lockdown is being lifted, although Suhail has had people enquiring, he is concerned that Asian weddings will still not be able to go ahead as they normally would for some time.