Fears end of furlough will lead to Lincolnshire redundancies
Around 22,000 workers were still on furlough in the county
There are fears the end of the furlough scheme will lead to redundancies across Lincolnshire.
It officially stops today, 18 months after it was brought in because of the pandemic.
It's claimed the Government's plan supported over 11 million workers, at a cost of 70 billion pounds.
Locally, it's thought around 22,000 people were still on furlough in Lincolnshire as it shut down.
Katrina Pierce from the local Federation of Small Businesses said she fears redundancies are on the horizon.
"For those businesses that are still reliant on the furlough scheme, today will certainly be a milestone.
"It could be quite scary as it really is an indicator that they are out of Government support as they hope for a really strong autumn and winter to help them recover and keep them jobs in place.
"We've seen some of the most difficult businesses conditions for over 300 years in a matter of months, that's going to take some time to recover from.
"We will see business thankfully return to normal and welcoming staff back, unfortunately, it really is the case that we will see some redundancies as a result of the furlough scheme fully winding down now."