Two thirds of hospitality businesses have said they won’t survive if the Government doesn’t approve a rent holiday.

A survey of 211 pubs, bars, restaurants, cafés and street-food vendors, conducted by industry analysists KAM Media, found that 66 per cent of respondents did not think they could survive a further three months of lockdown measures.

This increased to 87 per cent if a nine-month rent holiday, in line with the #NationalTimeOut campaign, spearheaded by Jonathan Downey of Hospitality Union, was not introduced.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “The government has moved quickly to address some of the existential challenges that hospitality faces, brought by the crisis and lockdown, and as an industry we are extremely grateful.

“However, this research underscores the scale of the challenges, which is reflected in the current mood of the industry.

“We need far-reaching and continued support, and unprecedented intervention of the order of the proposed nine-month #NationalTimeOut idea or an equivalent concept of similar scale, in order for hospitality jobs and businesses to endure this crisis and to be there to drive the recovery.”

Katy Moses, managing director at KAM Media, added: “So many hospitality businesses are at risk and we need help in navigating a pathway to safety.

“We need some fundamental interventions on rents and property, and on finance and loans, and it’s becoming clear that much of hospitality will require a much longer extension of the furlough scheme, given that businesses will not emerge fully from lockdown for some time.

“As an industry, we need to get behind campaigns such as #NationalTimeOut.”