MP Maria Miller says the chancellor's initiative of 'Eat Out to Help Out', will help boost Basingstoke businesses.

The scheme means that restaurant and pub bills will be slashed in half when diners eat out to boost the struggling tourism industry and economy. 

The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced today that people who dine out Monday to Wednesday in August will only have to pay for 50 per cent of the tab. 

Mr Sunak said: "So, to get customers back into restaurants, cafes and pubs, and protect the 1.8 million people who work in them, I can announce today that, for the month of August, we will give everyone in the country an Eat Out to Help Out discount."

The Government will cover the other half of the bill through the "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme, up to £10 per head, to boost the hospitality industry post-Covid lockdown.

The discount includes children's meals but it will not cover any alcohol ordered to go with your food.

It will see an £80 bill for a family of four reduced to just £40.

Maria Miller tweeted: "One of the many announcements made by Rishi Sunak that will help boost #Basingstoke business following the challenges of the #Coronavirus lockdown."

It is a leisure scheme that has never been tried in the UK before, with the Chancellor telling MPs that the "moment is unique" and it's time to be "creative".