SCOTTISH business leaders have suggest the self-employed seek interim finance from banks as a government support scheme may take weeks to deliver.

The Chancellor said that an 80% grant support for self-employed with trading profits of up to £50k will be accessible "no later than the beginning of June.

Rishi Sunak said: "Our expectation is that it will be up and running by the beginning of June. We are going to try and do it faster than that.  But I don't want to promise something that we can't deliver.

"As I said before, this is operationally complicated."

He said they want to give people who have not filed their tax return, four weeks to do so and benefit from the scheme.

Andrew McRae, the Federation of Small Businesses' Scotland policy chair, said: “Like many of these government interventions, it will take a number of weeks for this programme to deliver. Therefore, those who qualify should try their banks for interim finance if required, while doing what they can to manage their outgoings. This will be much easier said than done, but with help on its way many of the self-employed will rest a little easier.

"Thousands of people who work for themselves in Scotland will now breathe a sigh of relief. This scheme will provide lifeline cash to self-employed people, with help targeted at those on low and moderate incomes.

“We need to vanquish the myth that those that work for themselves are universally wealthy. People like the local handyman, cleaner and fitness coach will benefit from this support."

Official figures show that there are more than 320,000 self-employed people in Scotland.

Mr McRae said: “Throughout this crisis, we’ve found Ministers in Edinburgh and London sympathetic and approachable. These governments deserve credit for delivering support to business who face difficult circumstances that are neither under their control nor their fault.”