A STAGGERING £677,000 was saved by Bromsgrove and Redditch residents who claimed under the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out (EOTHO) scheme last month.
But it was Bromsgrove which led the way on a number of key categories including total registered restaurants, total number of meals claimed for, total discount claimed and average discount per meal.
Out of the 87 Bromsgrove restaurants signed up to the scheme, 77,000 meals were eaten and £523,000 was discounted – an average of £6.78 per meal.
Thirty-six restaurants in Redditch saw 26,000 meals claimed, with resident’s saving £154,000 – an average of £5.82.
Surprisingly, the City of Worcester was not far off Bromsgrove on amount discounted – £562,000, an average of £4.46 – despite having seven more restaurants signed up to the scheme.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said EOTHO helped protect the livelihoods of 1.8million people nationwide after statistics revealed more than 100million meals were eaten.
On the final day of the scheme, August 31 bookings were up 216 per cent compared to the same day in 2019, according to reservation company OpenTable.
Taxes will have to eventually rise to recover from the pandemic and the UK’s borrowing.
“I want to thank everyone from restaurant owners to waiters, chefs and diners, for embracing EOTHO and helping drive our economic recovery,” said Mr Sunak.
Elsewhere in the West Midlands, between Coventry South, North East and North West 219 restaurants were signed up to the scheme.
Between the constituencies 247,000 meals were eaten and £1,090,600 was paid for by the Government.
In Solihull 105,000 meals were eaten and £402,000 saved by residents between 76 restaurants.
