Pubs and restaurants have rebuked Rishi Sunak’s £1bn leisure and hospitality grant scheme after customers stayed at home en masse this week.

Firms across Britain have seen business drop by as much as 60pc in the vital run up to Christmas after fears over the omicron variant cut footfall dramatically.  

Yesterday the Treasury announced that pubs, restaurants and leisure businesses will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000 “in the coming weeks”.

Small firms have warned the measures do not go far enough. 

December is usually the busiest month of the year for Miranda Richardson, landlady of the Live & Let Live pub in Northampton, compensating for a traditionally quiet January for the hospitality sector.

But this year apprehension around the omicron variant means bookings have fallen and cancellations are the norm. 

In the weekend before Christmas in 2019, the pub took £11,500. This year that figure plummeted to £3,600.

“It has been horrendous,” Ms Richardson said. “At the moment we have no bookings past Christmas Eve, people are scared and there is no continuity from the Government regarding restrictions. At the moment I can’t order anything in for New Year’s Eve.

“We will be entitled to £2,700 under the latest grants scheme – my weekly wage bill for bar and waiting staff alone is £1,000, and that doesn’t include chefs.

“Another £1,000 a month to keep the lights on, before we even get to rent, broadband, supplies. The grants just don’t match the reality.”