The Eat Out to Help Out initiative, which was first announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak in July, entitled customers to 50 per cent off meals – up to £10 off per person – when they ate at participating restaurants on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August.

While the bank holiday on Monday 31 August will mark the final day of the scheme, several restaurants have stated that they will be extending their discounts in order to encourage members of the public to continue dining out in areas that are not under local lockdown.

Online food delivery company Deliveroo has declared it will also be cutting the price of orders made by customers in September, permitting a £5 discount on orders of £20 or more on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout September.

The firm will offer cash off the first 100,000 orders made at small restaurants every week of the month.

Around 16,000 local restaurants will be involved in the Deliveroo discount scheme, the company said.

National chains will not be included in the initiative, unless they decide to foot the rest of the bill themselves.

In order to use the discount, customers will be provided with a code that they will need to enter when checking out.

Will Shu, CEO of Deliveroo, explained that the company is “passionate about supporting local restaurants, who are central to our business and to so many high streets across the UK”.

“Our restaurant partners play a vital role in our economy, just as they do people’s everyday lives, bringing people the food they love,” Mr Shu said.

“We know they have been hit hard recently, and we hope our Eat IN to Help Out scheme can play a part in helping their businesses through this difficult period.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak stressed that the past few months have been “an incredibly difficult time for the hospitality sector, both during the lockdown and emerging from it”.

“Thousands of restaurants and cafes forced to close during lockdown were thankfully able to continue trading in some way using delivery services such as Deliveroo,” he said.

On Wednesday 26 August, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) joined several other organisations in urging the government to extend the Eat Out to Help Out scheme for September.

According to data released on Tuesday 25 August, more than 64 million meals were eaten under the scheme in the first three weeks of August.