ALMOST 1m people in the North-East and North Yorkshire were not placed on furlough leave despite being eligible, official figures confirm. 

HMRC has today published a breakdown of how many people were placed onto the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme by each council area.

IT revealed that just 3 out of 10 eligible workers were placed on furlough leave in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Analysis by The Northern Echo found that out of 1,320,200 eligible employments, just 393,900 people from our region were furloughed. 

This equates to just 30 percent of eligible workers in the region being furloughed and a further 70 percent made redundant, laid off, or continuing to work.

The data is also broken down by parliamentary constituency, which reveals the hardest-hit areas for furlough payments.

It reveals that Washington and Sunderland West saw the North-East's highest 'take-up' of furlough with 35 percent.

However, City of Durham saw the lowest take-up with just 26 percent of eligible workers being furloughed.

The figures are based on data up to June 30.