CRAVEN District Council has now received business grant funding of just over £26 million from the Government and the first payments to eligible businesses started to be made from April 3.

Council leader Cllr Richard Foster said: “The Council is busy processing business grant payments in line with the latest government guidelines. It is a significant task to ensure that the correct payments are made to businesses eligible for the grant and Council staff have been working hard to make sure those who qualify get the support they need and it is so important that we are able to get this money out to local businesses as soon as possible.”.”

Overall just over 2,000 businesses in the district will receive a £10,000 or £25,000 grant.