Businesses in South Lakeland have received £1 million in grants to help them through the coronavirus crisis.

The Government is offering £10,000 grants to any business in premises with a rateable value up to £15,000, and £25,000 grants to businesses in hospitality, leisure or retail with a rateable value of more than £15,000 but less than £51,000.

South Lakeland District Council launched its application process for the grants on Friday, inviting eligible businesses to complete an online form.

By Monday morning the council said it had received 1400 online applications and has now paid out around £1m of the grant fund, with the cash starting to reach businesses’ bank accounts tomorrow.

Councillor Robin Ashcroft, portfolio holder for economy, culture and leisure, estimated there were around 6000 businesses in South Lakeland that are eligible for the grants.

“To get around a quarter of those applying in the first couple of days is great to see,” he said.

“Our teams have worked exceptionally hard to get this set up and operating so quickly. They have created a straightforward online application process so that we didn’t waste any time posting out paper forms to be filled in and returned.

“The online process means we can receive applications, validate them and release the funds really quickly, as we know that the imperative is to get the money out to these businesses as quickly as we can. It is fantastic that we’re already able to send out the first £1m of the grant funding within a matter of days.

“We are still asking businesses that believe they qualify for a grant to go online to check their eligibility and to apply.’’

Businesses can fill out the application form by going to www.southlakeland.gov.uk/Covid-19BusinessGrants

The council said businesses are being invited to fill in the form if they believe they are eligible and are either receiving small business rate relief, rural rate relief or are an expanded retail discount scheme recipient.

Those eligible should receive the payment within seven working days of making their application.

The council said completing the form does not mean a business is eligible for the grants, but will allow it to check details against its rating list and make a determination of eligibility against the criteria laid out by Government.

Any businesses that apply but are not eligible will be sent an email setting out why they do not meet the criteria and will be directed to other support they may be eligible for.