Self-employed people whose work has been affected by coronavirus have been boosted by an extension to the coronavirus income support scheme.

Workers will be able to make a second and final claim in August for up to £6,750 through the self-employed income support scheme.

This lump sum will be worth 70% of their average monthly trading profits, which is 10% less than previous instalments.

The cap on the first round of payments was 80% of trading profits, up to a maximum of £7,500.

Around 46% of the UK’s five million self-employed population claimed grants worth up to £6.8 billion in the first round of grants.

Mike Cherry, chairman at the Federation of Small Business, said:

“Our self-employed community will be greatly relieved to know the income cliff-edge they were facing has been removed.

“The hope is that more and more sole traders will be able to return to work safely as restrictions are eased.

“Policymakers recognise that self-employed business owners working in a lot of sectors – not least hair and beauty, events and travel – will be massively impacted by the current downturn for many weeks to come.”