Bath & North East Somerset Council is working on 1,600 applications from businesses needing urgent Government grants due to coronavarius, and is reassuring companies that payments are on their way.

The council's Invest in Bath business support team launched an online form last week to speed up the process for businesses to access financial support from the Government.

On receipt of application, Invest in Bath is assessing eligibility before making payments via BACS within a target of seven working days.

Councillor Richard Samuel, deputy leader, said: "We know how urgent these payments are for businesses and the Invest in Bath team is working as hard as they can to process them as soon as possible.

"We've received more than 1,600 applications since launching our online application form on 1 April, so I'd ask businesses to please bear with us while we work through them. Rest assured that help is on its way."

Any business currently in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate relief may be eligible for a £10,000 cash grant. 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 which haven't already registered for the grants are being reminded to do so by following this link the application site.

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