Eat Out to Help out meals claimed across Worthing and Shoreham revealed

Participating eateries offered discounts on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the month of August.

In East Worthing and Shoreham more than 57,000 meals were claimed across 60 registered establishments.

Total discounts claimed were £224,000 at an average of £3.92 per meal.

Over in the Worthing West constituency more than 100,000 meals were claimed at a total of 129 eateries, with £618,000 discounted at an average of £6.16.

In Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, more than 85,000 meals were claimed across 77 locations.

The total discount was £457,000 at an average of £5.40.

Arundel and South Downs saw 109,000 discount claims at 149 eateries, with claims totalling £596,000 averaging at £5.47.

According to the Government the scheme is credited with helping to protect 1.8million jobs across the country.

Data from OpenTable shows bookings increased by an average of 52 per cent on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the whole of August, compared to the same days in 2019.

The Government’s temporary VAT cut for the hospitality industry will continue until January 2021.

Tim Loughton, East Worthing and Shoreham MP, said: “I am absolutely thrilled at the level of support local people in East Worthing and Shoreham have provided to our brilliant restaurants and hospitality businesses. Eat Out to Help Out was always about far more than just giving people money off their meals – it was about protecting jobs which are reliant on businesses which have really struggled through coronavirus.

“I know a lot of the restaurants are carrying on with the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme - it was really hard to get a booking anywhere across Worthing and Shoreham on Monday-Wednesday during August and it’s provided the hospitality and restaurant business with a real boost when they needed it most.”

Arundel and South Downs MP Andrew Griffith added: “The towns of Arundel, Steyning and Hurstpierpoint all triumphed with more than 50 participating restaurants and even diners in more rural Petworth, Wisborough Green and Pulborough had around two dozen restaurants to choose from. Through August we saw 109,000 meals discounted across Arundel and the South Downs.

“This was a well-executed scheme from ‘thought to fork’, with over 87,000 restaurants, cafes and pubs benefited covering 64 million meals across Britain.

“I am just as excited about the latest Kickstart Scheme - launched last week - and which will create hundreds of thousands of new fully-subsidised jobs for young people.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak added: “From the get-go our mission has been to protect jobs- and to do this we needed be creative, brave and try things that no government has ever done before.

“Today’s figures continue to show Eat Out to Help Out has been a success. I want to thank everyone, from restaurant owners to waiters, chefs and diners, for embracing it and helping drive our economic recovery.

“The scheme is just one part of our Plan for Jobs and we will continue to protect, support and create jobs to ensure we come back stronger as a nation.”

The local breakdowns do not take into account registered businesses with more than 25 outlets, who are not required to provide individual restaurant details.

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