ALMOST 300 Ceredigion businesses will be eligible to claim business rates relief totalling over £110,000 across the county - half of the funding made available last year.

The Welsh Government has announced funding of £5m across Wales compared to funding of £10m in the previous year, meaning eligible businesses will only receive half of the amount of rate relief they were able to claim last year.

Under the scheme businesses will be split into two tiers with Tier One businesses having a rateable value from £6,001 and £12,000 who receive either small business rate relief or transitional rate relief and Tier Two businesses including those with a rateable value of between £12,001 and £50,000 who saw their business rates go up on 1 April, 2017.

There are 286 businesses in Tier One who will receive a reduction of £250 or an amount that would cover their whole bill if it is below £250, while 72 Tier Two businesses would see a reduction of up to £750.

The amount of rate relief is half that provided through the scheme in the previous year.

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition on Wednesday