More than 16,000 workers are currently furloughed in Huntingdonshire, new figures reveal.

Twenty-eight per cent of people in the district are under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for this month according to Government data. It means that 16,400 employees are furloughed out of 59,200 workers in the district.

Last month, John Bridge, chief executive of Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce which includes firms in Huntingdonshire, said the scheme had helped preserve millions of jobs but “major uncertainties” remained ahead.

The furlough scheme – which grants 80 per cent of employees’ pay up to a maximum of £2,500 per month – was initially supposed to last for three months, but was extended until October.

The support is now being scaled back, with the amount of furloughed wages paid by the Government reduced each month from August.

Nationally 9.4 million employments had been placed on furlough, an increase of 678,000 compared with claims made until the end of May.