Eat Out to Help Out: Where ate the most during controversial scheme?

The scheme – which saw people receive a 50 per cent discount on meals at participating restaurants – originally ran during August 2020.

A brainchild of the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, it was later discovered that Eat Out to Help Out contributed to an increase in Covid cases of up to 17 per cent, according to the University of Warwick.

But, at the time, customers were encouraged by the Conservative Chancellor and his cabinet colleagues to meet friends and family for the discounted meals.

Across the east London boroughs of Havering, Redbridge, Barking & Dagenham, Newham and Tower Hamlets, restaurants claimed back a hefty £16,583,000 to fund the offer.

Tower Hamlets led the way with claims from 506 restaurants, totalling just over £6m and averaging out as £11,900 per outlet.

The figure accounted for some 844,000 meals, with customers making a saving of £7.14 on average.

In Newham, 265 restaurants claimed for 911,000 meals, which totalled a claim of £5m - working out at £19,200 per outlet. Each customer received, on average, a £5.58 discount.

Food lovers in Redbridge benefited from 200 restaurants taking part in the scheme, with the claim total stretching to £3.4m. This averaged out as £17,100 per outlet, covering a total of 558,000 meals.

Customers in Redbridge made average savings of £6.12.

In Havering, 144 restaurants claimed 259,000 meals, totalling almost £1.5m. It worked out as £10,300 on average per outlet, with customers saving £5.73 on each meal.

Finally, in Dagenham & Barking, where only 50 outlets took part in the scheme, 123,000 meals were claimed for – totalling just £564,000.

Despite the low numbers for the borough, HMRC will be shelling out £11,300 per restaurant on average and customers saved £4.59 on each meal.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak claimed much of the credit for the controversial discount scheme (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

However significant the uptake of Eat Out to Help Out in east London, it’s legacy will forever be tainted with accelerating the second wave of the virus.

In October, research from Warwick found that between 8 per cent and 17 per cent of newly detected infection clusters could be linked to the controversial scheme.

Dr Thiemo Fetzer told Sky News that it "contributed to community transmission" and "the acceleration of the second wave".

He said: "The UK saw a massive explosion of cases in a way that was not seen in other countries.

"It's that scheme that has helped to bring about an earlier second lockdown and restrictions on the restaurant sector that it was determined to help economically."