Hard-hit retail and hospitality businesses in County Durham and Darlington have been given more than £35 million to help reopen as lockdown restrictions are eased, new figures show.

The funding from the Government's £5 billion Restart Scheme has been welcomed by council leaders who have urged councils to act quickly in getting the money distributed.

Latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy show Durham County County Council and Darlington Borough Council had issued £35.6 million in grants to 4,956 businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors under the scheme up to the end of May.

The grants for Darlington businesses came from a £6.3 million pot given to the council, which leaves £792,180 to still give away by the end of July.

Durham County Council received £28.6 million, however the local authority had spent £1.6 million more than its allocation.

The scheme, which opened in April, was designed to boost the economy ahead of the lifting of restrictions.

It offers one-off grants up to £6,000 for non-essential retail businesses and up to £18,000 for firms in the hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym sectors.

Read more: Council expands covid business support in Darlington

Across England, £2.6 billion had been passed on to more than 340,000 businesses by councils up to the end of May.

Despite the amounts paid out, business leaders have complained some councils have been too slow to pass on the money applied for by businesses.

Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: "This data clearly shows that some local authorities still have money to hand out to hard-hit businesses to help with their recovery."

Meanwhile, the British Beer and Pub Association said delays in payments had worsened a situation for members already hit by the delay in the lifting of restrictions for indoor hospitality.

A spokesperson added: "With the delay to July 19 for a full reopening of our sector, more support is needed in the form of grants."

At the launch of the Restart Grant scheme, small business minister Paul Scully and tourism minister Nigel Huddleston wrote to councils, urging them to release the funding as soon as possible.

It followed some criticism that councils had been too slow in passing on financial support from other funding schemes such as the Additional Restrictions Grant.

That grant, set up to help businesses which have not benefited from other grant schemes, saw £1.6 billion given to authorities, including an extra £425 million at the start of April.

Read more: Businesses excited to reopen as covid restrictions ease

In Darlington, the council had issued £2.8 million out of a funding pot worth £3.1 million in grants to businesses.

And in County Durham, the council had issued £11.5 million out of a funding pot worth £15.3 million in grants to businesses.

The Local Government Association, which represents the country's councils, said stringent checks had to be done on businesses before payments under the Restart scheme were issued.

A spokesman said: "Councils have had to come to terms with a rapidly changing landscape and guidance with different grants applying to different time periods and lockdowns but are working fast to ensure businesses can receive funding as quickly as possible.”

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