Deliveroo is offer customers a discount in September to encourage them to “eat in to help out”.

The delivery company will offer £5 off orders of £20 or more every Monday to Wednesday until the end of the month. Deliveroo will be offering money off the first 100,000 orders at small restaurants each week until the end of the month. 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,” Deliveroo boss Will Shu said. “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.