Thousands dine out in EK under scheme

More than £1.5 million was discounted from meals in South Lanarkshire as part of the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

New figures released by HMRC showed that up to midnight on August 27, more than 260,000 meals were devoured by diners at participating restaurants, pubs and cafes in the region.

Restaurants have until the end of September to claim back the discount so HMRC expect t he number of cl ai ms t o continue to increase.

Across Scotland, 6.3 million meals have been claimed so far to the tune of £38.6 million as part of the scheme.

Participating eateries offered discounted m e a l s o n Mo n d a y s t o We d n e s d a y s throughout August.

B r o k e n d o w n b y UK p a r l i a ment a r y constituency, residents in Rutherglen and Hamilton West were the most ravenous in South Lanarkshire with 119,000 meals discounted by £643,000.

In total, the three constituencies wholely within South Lanarkshire saw 269,000 meals discounted by £1.539 million.

Across t he t hre e c onst i t uenci e s, 2 7 9 r e s t a u r a nt s t o o k p a r t i n t h e s c h e me - although that figure excludes chains with more than 25 outlets such as McDonalds and Costa Coffee who took part in the scheme.

In East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, 113,000 meals were discounted by £635,000 while Lanark and Hamilton East saw 37,000 meals discounted by £261,000.

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale - which includes part of South Lanarkshire as well as Dumfries and Gall oway and the Scottish Borders - saw 89,000 meals discounted to the tune of £532,000.

Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack said: “The UK Government ’s Eat Out t o Help Out scheme has been a roaring success, helping protect 1.8 million jobs in the hospitality sector.

“More than 6.3 million meals were enjoyed in Scotland with the UK Government paying up to £10 towards each. I want to say thank you to ever yone who has supported the scheme - as well as the staff who made it possible.

“This i ni t i at i v e i s j ust one par t of an e x t e n s i v e p a c k a g e o f UK G ov e r n ment support for Scotland’s economy and jobs. That includes supporting more than 930,000 jobs, providing business loans, helping to get young people into jobs, and a VAT cut for tourism and hospitality businesses. We are also providing an additional £6.5 billion through the Barnett formula for the devolved administration at Holyrood.”