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Over £51million in government funding has been distributed to businesses to support them through the coronavirus pandemic.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ has now paid out all grants allocated to the borough to help firms impacted by lengthy lockdowns and restrictions over the last two years.

Most recently, small businesses that were impacted by the Omicron variant of Covid have benefited from one-off hardship grants.

Payments of £1,000 or £2,000 have been made to 87 businesses from all sectors across the Borough totalling £164,000. This was funded through the Additional Restrictions Grant and all available funding is now committed.

A further 318 firms also received Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grants totalling £1,018,739.

In a borough-wide business survey conducted in November last year, firms identified access to finance as one of the biggest barriers to growth.

Cllr Tracey Dixon, Leader of Â鶹ÊÓƵ, said: "All our allocated funds have now been paid out to eligible businesses in the Borough.

"Since the start of the pandemic we've distributed more than £51million in government aid to support our business community through the most challenging of circumstances.

"They have provided a much-needed boost to help protect livelihoods.

"Firms have told us via our survey that finance is a big barrier to growth. At South Tyneside Business Week in June, we'll be exploring access to finance, and we'll continue to lobby government around business rates and other support needed locally."

"Now that restrictions have been lifted, we hope that businesses can bounce back and start to flourish again."

All grant application schemes are now closed.