High Street voucher: Thousands waiting as deadline looms

People have until 14 December to use their £100 card

Almost 5,000 people are due to receive their Spend Local cards this week, just days before the scheme is due to end.

The £145m High Street Voucher scheme was designed to help bricks-and-mortar businesses hardest hit by the pandemic.

Applications for the £100 Spend Local cards opened on 27 September. The initial deadline for spending them was the end of November, it was then extended by two weeks to 14 December.

With just one week left, some people are still waiting for their cards.

"Around 4,700 people who were verified are due to receive their cards this week," said a Department for the Economy spokesperson.

"A further 3,500 verified applicants are being re-issued with new cards as they told us their cards did not arrive."

The Department for the Economy said more than £115m has been injected into the local economy so far as a result of this scheme, designed to boost activity in businesses hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, like non-essential retail and hospitality.

The cards can be used in any shop with a card machine, but cannot be used online or for gambling or legal services like penalties.

High streets and town centres were already facing a tough time before the pandemic began due to the rise in online shopping.