More financial support for businesses not eligible for the mandatory Omicron hospitality and leisure grant has been announced by the district council.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council says it has a limited budget of £344,000 to provide discretionary grants to businesses most impacted by Omicron and has chosen, following Government guidelines, to prioritise suppliers to the hospitality sector as well as travel businesses and event space businesses who didn't qualify for the mandatory grants such as golf clubs.

The grant is also open to businesses in rated properties that deliver personal care services, such as hair and beauty salons, and those that deliver group exercise classes as the council recognises that they are likely to have faced loss of trade with many larger Christmas events or group sessions being cancelled.

The grants will help to contribute to overheads incurred by these businesses at a time when trade was most impacted.

Council Leader, Councillor Sybil Ralphs, said: "The ongoing effects of the pandemic continue to hit businesses across the Moorlands so we are launching this additional financial help to support those that don't qualify for the mandatory Omicron grant.

"We want to see our local businesses thriving and offering discretionary grants such as this means we can support more local companies through this challenging period.

"As ever, we want to get this money out to businesses and making a difference as quickly as possible so I would urge those that are eligible to apply sooner rather than later.

"Ideally we would have been able to support a wider range of businesses but the amount awarded to the District, together with the money we held back as a contingency, is relatively small so we have had to make some tough choices.

"We have prioritised those who will have faced event cancellations, their suppliers and the travel sector."

The deadline for applications is Friday 4 March.

For more information about eligibility, and to apply click here.