An £8 million fund has been set up for SMEs in the Humber region to help them make capital investments; this could lead to the creation of more than 500 jobs.

The funding was secured by the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as part of the Government-run Growth Deal.

The funding will be used to extend the LEP’s Growing the Humber grant programme, which has already supported more than 300 businesses with £25 million.

Growing the Humber has so far helped to create more than 1,800 jobs, with 540 due to be created this year.

Chairman David Kilburn said: “Growing the Humber has already been successful in helping businesses of all shapes and sizes to make key investments that enable them to grow and employ more people.

“We are pleased that additional money from the Growth Deal allows us to continue providing support to businesses that promote economic growth for the region.”