A SPECIALIST team at City of York Council worked through the Easter bank holiday weekend to get government support grants to businesses - with £34m of the £48m pot now handed out.

And £66m of business rates relief has also been allocated.

The government transferred money to every council in the country on April 1 to support local businesses. But in York business owners hit out after only £1.2m of the emergency grants had been awarded a week later.

A council spokesperson says 5,500 businesses have now received grants and rates relief - after fraud checks were carried out.

Council leader Keith Aspden said: “We have listened to businesses and recognised that processing these payments as quickly as possible was vital to ensuring the long-term resilience of businesses and York’s economy.

"That is why council officers have been working round the clock to progress these payments, whilst ensuring all the required checks are met.”

Cllr Andrew Waller added: “It was clear to us just how important it was to get the grant payments to all these businesses as quick as possible. They form an integral part of York’s economy, bringing in £2bn annually and supporting thousands of jobs."

For more information and help visit york.gov.uk/BusinessSupport.