MORE than £800,000 was saved by Test Valley residents thanks to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, new figures reveal.

For three days a week in August, people could buy a half-price meal at outlets that signed up to the scheme and save up to £10 per person.

The initiative, which saw people flock to pubs, restaurants and cafes across the UK, was largely hailed a success by the hospitality sector but has since been criticised over claims it encouraged further spread of the coronavirus.

Data published by HM Revenue and Customs yesterday showed £862,000 in discounts were claimed at 100 businesses.

The total number of meals claimed by foodies was 147,000, with the average amount per outlet coming to £8,600.

It meant diners saved £5.88 per meal on average.

The landlord of The Boot Inn in Houghton, Craig Doyle, said although Eat Out to Help Out seemed a "brilliant" idea in the summer, he hopes once the hospitality sector reopens the scheme will not be needed to help keep businesses afloat.

He said: "I am hoping the Government doesn't do it again this year, because hopefully people can get back to some sort of normality.

"I'm sure it worked very well last time in businesses who have lots of covers, but it is certainly making me nervous because I have a small restaurant area, so running that and having discounts may not work for me."

He added: "I didn't take part in the scheme, because I was not open, but I'm sure there were benefits to it, as it gets traffic through your door."

There were among 7,823 cafés, restaurants and pubs to take part across the South East, and 59,981 across the UK as a whole.

However, the HMRC data only covers businesses with fewer than 25 outlets meaning the true figures may be much higher, with many big-name restaurant chains also taking part in the scheme over the summer.

As reported, the president of Romsey & District Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ieuan Wathen, said figures published last year, which saw £256,000 claimed in discounts, were encouraging.

However, he stressed the scheme could have continued until the end of September to help businesses.

He told the Advertiser it was great to see people coming back out again and the discounts helped encourage people to do this.

"It would have been nice if the Government kept the scheme going until the end of September, because there are a lot of offices above these shops in Romsey and the scheme could have helped bring people back into the town centre," he said.