Cottesmore Hunt has received grant funding from central government to help businesses survive the pandemic.

Now, Rutland County Council has issued a statement explaining how the hunt received the money under the scheme, which was administered by the council.

The statement said: "To support businesses and organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Government tasked local authorities to administer its loans to business scheme.

"The Cottesmore Hunt is one of a number of organisations in Rutland that was awarded COVID-19 grant funding by the Government, with the intention of supporting property costs.

"The eligibility criteria for awarding retail, hospitality and leisure grants were set by the Government and Rutland County Council was obliged to provide grants to any company or organisation that met that criteria.

"Local authorities, like Rutland County Council, have carried out a purely administrative role within this grant process. Decisions about what types of organisation were eligible for a grant and how much money they should receive were taken at the national level.

"We have simply distributed national funding to eligible rate payers in our area, in accordance with the Government's guidelines."

No further details, including how much Cottesmore Hunt received, were given.

From the start of the pandemic in March, a range of support has been available to businesses, as previously reported by Nub News.

Earlier this month, Rutland Council revealed it has distributed £12.2 million to more than 1,000 county businesses, as also reported by Nub News.