KNUTSFORD businesses are to continue offering the Eat Out to Help Out scheme for the rest of this month after a seeing a major increase in their customers.

Under the scheme people can get a 50 per cent discount on food or non-alcoholic drinks to eat or drink in, up to a maximum of £10 discount per diner.

The offer is available on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until August 31, and people can use it as many times as they like.

One of the businesses which has benefitted from the scheme is Evuna Restaurants and Bars, which has a restaurant in King Street, Knutsford.

Company director Jane Dowler said she couldn’t recommend the scheme enough.

“We are closed on Monday, and were fully booked on the Tuesday and Wednesday last week inside and out, so for us the scheme has really helped.”

Last week’s figures were 40 per cent up on the previous week, she said, and were 70 per cent of pre-lockdown trade.

The restaurant was also fully booked for this Tuesday and Wednesday.

She added: “I’m so pleased; the Eat Out scheme has been a lifeline, and fingers crossed the increase in customers continues for the whole of August.

“The success of the scheme has made me think of doing an early dining offer in Knutsford or mid-week dining offer for September.

“We are recruiting because we lost a lot of our Spanish staff in Knutsford at lockdown because everyone went home to be with their parents, and some haven’t come back.”

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Pub owner Nicola Newton is also delighted at the increase in business she has seen because of the Eat Out scheme.

Nicola runs the Rose and Crown Inn in King Street, with her extended family, and said she would continue with the scheme for as long as the Government made it available.

She said: “It was a bit of a slow start on the Monday lunchtime, but after that it was up where a good Friday or Saturday would be.

“It’s a great offer to the consumer, and it’s nice that we can get people in who have not tried us before, and who will go away delighted.

“We will carry on as long as Rishi Sunak [The Chancellor] keeps paying. It’s been great for us, and I don’t see any negatives to it.”

Nicola said the mix of customers taking advantage of the offer was 60 per cent regulars and 40 per cent new customers.

The pub is now open on a Monday, but has stopped offering food on a Thursday.

Nicola suggested the Government could look at offering the scheme in November to help businesses in the run-up to the Christmas period.

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Café On the Corner in King Street has also seen an increase in trade since the Eat Out scheme came in.

Head waitress Eve Walker said the café had been significantly busier last week on the Monday to Wednesday.

She said: “We are doing the three days, and are not taking bookings.

“It’s getting busier again, and we are lucky because we are near Tatton Park.

“Dog walkers come in for drinks, and the Eat Out scheme has definitely been worth it for us.”