ALMOST a million pounds has been paid out in grants to support businesses impacted by the second national lockdown.

West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) processed 613 applications worth £997,916 from local businesses that either needed to stop trading or were seriously affected during the lockdown period.

Payments vary according to the size of the business and whether it was from a mandatory or discretionary grant scheme.

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Toby Morris, cabinet member for resources at WODC, said: “Our priority has been to support local businesses at this unprecedented time.

“Since the pandemic began, a number of support schemes have been announced by the Government that the council has had to allocate, often with little notice.

“Our teams have worked flat out to build the systems necessary to receive applications, process them carefully and then pay out to the successful businesses.

“These payments will provide a lifeline for many businesses that, through no fault of their own, have had an extremely challenging 2020.”

The second national lockdown took place between November 5 and December 2.

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