Over 113,000 small and medium sized firms in the Netherlands applied for help with paying their fixed costs in the first three months of the year, according to new government figures.

That is well up on the 90,000 requests for help registered in the final three months of last year.

Of the applications made between January and March, 91,000 have been approved and 11,000 rejected. The rest are still being processed.

More on the various government support schemes (English)

Earlier this month it emerged that bailiffs have begun sequestering bank accounts and other assets belonging to 400 companies which, officials say, wrongly claimed government coronavirus support until the TVL scheme to pay fixed costs.

The cash was available to firms which said they had lost at least 30% of their turnover and therefore could not pay permanent items such as rent.