More than 160 million meals were sold by businesses through the Eat Out to Help Out scheme in August, according to official figures.
HMRC has said that more than 49,000 restaurants, pubs and cafes claimed £849 million by the end of September through the subsidy scheme aimed to boost consumer spending after the first national lockdown.
It said the majority of claims – 55% – were made by restaurants, with pubs accounting for 28% of meals.
The Government data revealed that the number of meals discounted by the scheme and the total value of claims increased each week as more people used the offer every week before it ended.
It also revealed that customers secured an average discount of £5.24 per meal claimed.
