Pressure is growing on the Government to do more to help self employed people to cope financially during the coronavirus crisis.

Devizes businessman Iain Wallis from the Federation of Small Businesses welcomed the help that has been given to many businesses but felt the self employed needed more help.

He said: "It was encouraging to hear that the chancellor is talking to business groups such as the FSB to refine support for the self employed.

"It is estimated that there are just under 5 million self employed people in the UK and they have no method of claiming Statutory Sick Pay.

"The government have assured us that they will be able to access the benefits system however we are concerned that the sheer numbers requiring assistance may overwhelm the system. There is certainly more scope for helping the self employed and this does need to be looked at with some urgency."

Rachael Ross, from Devizes Labour Party also called on more to be done to help the self-employed. said: "In Wiltshire there are large numbers of self-employed people working from home and help for this vital group is missing. But there are some vital groups missing.

"They form the backbone of our local economy here in Wiltshire – including performers and promoters, carers, cleaners, builders, small shops and cafés owners, and anyone working in the gig economy.

"I call on the Chancellor to include self employed people in the work protection package. £94 per week is not enough for people to live on.”

The Creative Industries Federation is calling for a £15 billion fund to support the self-employed.

It said a recent survey had revealed that 60% of creative freelances predict their income will more than halve in 2020, and more than 50% of freelances who responded to a snap poll have already had 100% of their work cancelled.

It is calling for an emergency fund that “gives a time-limited and carefully targeted cash grant to the self-employed workers and freelances that need it most”.

In a letter, backed by more than 30 trade bodies, it states: “We propose that the government creates a Temporary Income Protection Fund of £15 billion to provide all self-employed workers with a monthly income matching their average existing earnings over the past three years, capped at average UK earnings after the basic rate of income tax and with a minimum monthly income of the Real Living Wage. There is now precedent for this across Europe.”

Equity has penned an open letter to the chancellor, urging more action to be taken.