Cornwall Council has invited businesses which have missed out on government funding to cope with the impact of coronavirus to apply for new discretionary grants.

The council announced today that it has been allocated £13.5million from the government to give out in discretionary grants to those companies which missed out on earlier support.

It comes after a number of companies said that they were unable to access previous financial support because they did not meet the criteria set by the government.

However while the council has welcomed the new grant funding it said that it expected that even more support would still be needed.

Council deputy leader Adam Paynter said that the council had already distributed more than £220m in grants to businesses across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

But he said that there had been "harrowing stories" from small businesses which missed out and are struggling as a result.

Cllr Paynter said that some firms had had no income at all since lockdown and were having to make difficult choices which would affect their livelihoods.

Applications for the new funding will open tomorrow (FriMay22) and Cllr Paynter said the first payments should be released in early June.

Standard grants available will be for up to £10,000 but he said that in "exceptional circumstances" there will be some grants of up to £25,000 – but he warned these could take longer to process.

Cllr Paynter added: "We expect that the level of need is much higher than that which it allows for."

He urged any companies which may not be able to access funding to contact the council so that they could "build a clear evidence-based picture" of the need.

This would be used to lobby the government to provide further funding for businesses in Cornwall.