More than 13,000 people in Powys were placed on furlough leave as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, new figures have revealed.

The Government has today published a breakdown of the number of people in each county and parliamentary constituency to have been placed on leave with Government support during the Covid-19 outbreak.

And the data shows that 13,100 people in Powys Council's area were furloughed.

With the county having about 64,000 working people, it means that just over a fifth of the county's employees stopped working during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Of those who were furloughed, 6,800 were in the Montgomershire constituency represented by Craig Williams, and 6,300 were in Fay Jones' Brecon and Radnorshire constituency.

The UK Government also launched a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which would allow those who are self-employed to claim up to 80 per cent of their average monthly profits.

In Montgomeryshire, there have been 3,800 recipients of the SEISS, with a total value of £10.5 million paid out.

Across Wales, 316,000 people were furloughed, while in England an extraordinary 6.4 million people were placed on Government-backed leave.

Craig Williams MP said: “We will make it through this pandemic and we must ensure that the economy is ready to fire on all cylinders, when we’re are allowed out of lockdown and have defeated this virus.

“I’m delighted that the UK Government’s schemes have been able to help over 10,000 people in Montgomeryshire, and this is why it is vital that we remember that Wales is stronger being a part of the United Kingdom.”