Deliveroo has said that it will offer customers a discount in September to encourage them to “eat in to help out”, after the Government’s restaurant subsidy scheme ends next week.

The delivery giant said that it would offer £5 off an order of £20 or more during the first three days of each week in September.

The initiative follows Eat Out To Help Out – a scheme where the Government covered half of the value of a meal, up to a maximum of £10 during August.

More than 64 million meals were eaten under the scheme during its first three weeks, according to data released on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) became the latest organisation to call on Government ministers to extend the scheme into September after hailing its success.

Deliveroo will offer cash off the first 100,000 orders at small restaurants each week in September. National chains will not be part of the deal, unless they pick up the tab themselves.

“Deliveroo is passionate about supporting local restaurants, who are central to our business and to so many high streets across the UK,” said Deliveroo boss Will Shu.

“Our restaurant partners play a vital role in our economy, just as they do people’s everyday lives, bringing people the food they love. We know they have been hit hard recently, and we hope Our Eat IN to Help Out scheme can play a part in helping their businesses through this difficult period.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “This has been an incredibly difficult time for the hospitality sector, both during the lockdown and emerging from it.

“Thousands of restaurants and cafes forced to close during lockdown were thankfully able to continue trading in some way using delivery services such as Deliveroo.”

Around 16,000 local restaurants will be involved in the scheme, Deliveroo said. Customers will be given a code to use to apply the discount.