A FUND to give struggling businesses up to £10k to get through the pandemic has closed to new applications following a flood of interest.

Inverclyde Council says the Covid-19 Discretionary Fund it is administering on behalf of the government is not taking any more applications.

Only those received before close of business on January 20 will be assessed.

The decision was taken due to the finite amount of money from the government for it, and the high volume of applications received.

Council bosses say the fund 'may reopen if additional resources become available'.