PEOPLE in Wokingham ate 124,000 discounted meals during the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme last August.

The figures show 73 Wokingham restaurants claimed a total of £703,000 under the government scheme, which aimed to support hospitality businesses that were forced to close after the first national lockdown.

That meant each restaurant in Wokingham claimed an average of £5.67 a meal and £9,600 overall.

The scheme provided diners with a state-backed 50 per cent discount on meals and soft drinks up to £10 each on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in August.

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But while thousands flocked to these eateries, there was no significant increase in Covid-19 infections.

Public Health figures show that just 41 confirmed cases were recorded in Wokingham that month.

When the scheme began on August 3, Wokingham’s seven-day infection rate stood at 2.9 cases per 100,000 people.

When it ended on August 31, it stood at 11.1.

Wokingham’s infection rate peaked at 606 on January 4 in 2021 when the government imposed the third national lockdown, after 1,037 confirmed cases were recorded over seven days.

In Berkshire, 622 restaurants claimed a total of £5,817,000 for 944,000 meals, during the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

Across the UK, £849 million was claimed by over 78,000 businesses.

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Westminster was the area of the country that racked up the biggest bill, as 1,297 eateries claimed £13,691,000 for 1,861,000 meals.

A government report on the scheme states: “Over 160 million individual meals were claimed. The average claim per cover was £5.24.

“The total amount paid under the scheme was £840 million – slightly lower than the amount claimed due to some rejected claims or errors in payment details.

“This exceeds the £500 million forecast by the Treasury at the time of the Scheme announcement.

“The scheme boosted customer demand for eating out on the scheme days in August. However, dining-out dropped from mid-September as restrictions were re-imposed on hospitality venues.”