The manager of a leisure complex has told the Government that his business is not a 'tap that can be turned on and off' after revealing it is haemorrhaging £250,000 per month.

For every month Burnley's Crow Wood Leisure complex has been closed due to the coronavirus, managing director Andy Brown said is has been losing a quarter of a million pounds.

Speaking on Thursday, after the British Chamber of Commerce called on the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to provide more financial support to businesses, Mr Brown said: "For every month we’re shut, we currently lose £250,000.

“Our business is not a tap that can be turned on and off at will, nor can it be meaningfully helped by the Government’s one-size-fits-all approach to financial support.”

The revelation came after it was announced firms across the country are facing a “desperate situation” because of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, and urgently need more help from the Government.

The British Chambers of Commerce said measures should include extending business rates relief, prolonging VAT deferrals and offering an immediate, further round of cash grant support.

The Westmorland Gazette:

The leading business group also said more certainty was needed to help protect jobs and livelihoods by maintaining the Job Retention Scheme until a full reopening of the economy is possible, adding that businesses cannot afford to wait until the Chancellor’s Budget in March.

Director general of the British Chamber of Commerce, Adam Marshall, said: “We have written to the Chancellor to highlight the desperate situation facing thousands of businesses all across the UK.

“The damage inflicted by the pandemic is widespread.

"It goes far beyond the very visible casualties hit by repeated stop-start lockdowns.

“The support schemes the Government has introduced so far have saved many firms and jobs, but they have not gone far enough to help many survive a tough start to 2021.

"The drip-feed approach to business support measures has meant many firms simply cannot plan for the future.

The Westmorland Gazette:

“We are urging the Government to urgently adopt a package of measures that covers the whole of 2021, and that takes away the cliff-edges firms face in a few weeks’ time when reliefs, forbearance and furlough are set to end.

"Many companies simply can’t wait until the March Budget.”​

The £12.9million leisure complex at Crow Wood, which includes a top-class hotel and spa resort, was opened in November 2019, after receiving planning permission from then Communities Secretary Sajid Javid in November 2016.

At the time Mr Brown, said: "It's nice to do something for the town, and to repay the town, which has certainly been very good to me."