More than 340 businesses have already received urgent business support grants from the Government totalling £5.4 m thanks to Bath & North East Somerset Council's Invest in Bath business support team.

The team worked throughout the Easter weekend to continue processing applications made via Invest in Bath's online form to help a range of businesses receive the vital payments more quickly.

There have been 187 small business grants since applications began, with a further 158 payments made for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector. Around 200 applications are processed per day.

Invest in Bath is continuing to invite applications and has a target of processing payments within seven working days from date of receipt. Businesses are asked to bear in mind that, depending on their bank, payments may take a further three days to show in their accounts.

Any business currently in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate relief may be eligible for a £10,000 cash grant from the Government Any retail, hospitality or leisure business with a rateable value above £15,000 and below £51,000 may be eligible for a £25,000 cash grant.

Businesses who haven't already registered for the grants can still do so here:

the registration web site.

Councillor Richard Samuel, deputy leader, said: "We continue to have a huge response from our local businesses, so once again I'd ask if people could remain patient while our Invest in Bath team works hard to get the payments made. They recognise the importance of the money reaching businesses urgently and have worked over the Easter break to process these forms."

People who have applied are being asked to avoid asking for status updates on their applications where possible so that staff can focus on assessing other submissions quickly.

To contact the Invest in Bath team, email [email protected]