More than 27,000 people across Newham and Redbridge could still be furloughed as the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme comes to an end.

The latest figures from the scheme - which closes today (September 30) - show there were 15,500 people on furlough in Newham and 12,300 in Redbridge at the end of July.

This amounts to roughly 10 per cent of eligible employments in each borough (152,900 and 126,200 respectively) - the equal highest proportion of jobs on furlough in the country.

Eight of the 10 local authorities with the highest proportions on July 31 were in London.

Across the UK, there were 484,000 employers with roughly 1.6 million staff on furlough on July 31.

Resolution Foundation estimates as many as one million could still be using the scheme as it ends this month, with up to half of those furloughed in full.

Nationally, about 11.6 million jobs have been put on furlough for at least part of the duration of the scheme, which was brought in during the Covid-19 pandemic.