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Businesses struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic are being urged to come forward and claim financial support.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ has already distributed more than £20million in government grants.

Over 1800 local firms in the borough have benefited from the Small Business Grant or Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Grant made available by the government.

However, there are still businesses eligible for support which have yet to claim.

Cllr Iain Malcolm, Leader of Â鶹ÊÓƵ, said: "There is no doubt that this pandemic is hitting our business community hard and this is an extremely challenging time.

"We've already paid out more than £20million of the funds allocated to us, but there is still a significant amount left, which means there are firms who could be entitled to money that they have not yet claimed.

"These grants are intended to provide swift help to support cash flow and protect livelihoods and we know that without them many businesses would be going to the wall.

"We'd encourage any eligible local firms who have not yet applied for aid to contact us so that we can get them help quickly, to see them through this crisis and beyond."

Small businesses in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rates Relief (RRR) as of the 11 March are entitled to a one-off payment of £10,000.

All businesses that would have been in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount - which covers retail, hospitality and leisure - on 11 March, are entitled to a grant.

For the coming financial year business rates will be waived for all business in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector.

Carl Buckley, managing Director of South-Shields-based marketing agency Urban River, received the Small Business Grant.

He said: "Urban River has been established in South Shields since 2002 and as a marketing and web design agency we have a constant number of clients requiring support.

"As a result of this and despite the availability of Government help in relation to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, we made a decision not to furlough staff and to continue to trade to ensure continued support for our clients.

"As a business eligible to apply for a Small Business Grant Fund, the process was very simple, took less than five minutes and within three working days received £10,000 directly into our bank account.

"This has made a big difference in supporting the business' decision to continue trading and enabled us to continue to work with our clients including the NHS, a number of schools and charities, plus in the past week, win four new projects."

The quickest way to apply is to complete the online form on the business section of the Council website: Coronavirus emergency business grant request.