More than 12,000 people across Cambridgeshire could be facing uncertainty about work as the furlough scheme has now come to an end.

The latest figures, which run up to July 31 of this year, detail the amount of people still on the scheme across the county.

The £70 billion furlough programme closed yesterday (September 30) after supporting millions of UK workers over the past 18 months.

In Huntingdonshire out of 82,900 residents eligible for government relief, 3,500 remained furloughed by July 31.

In Fenland out of 43,300 residents eligible, 1,400 remained furloughed and in East Cambridgeshire 1,700 were furloughed out of 39,900.

Elsewhere in Cambridge, 2,800 people were furloughed as of July 31 out of 61,500.

The figures show that 12,700 took up the government initiative in Cambridgeshire out of 302,600 eligible.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, who launched the furlough scheme in March 2020, said he was “proud” of what it had achieved.

Speaking yesterday, he said: “I also want people to know that we're not done supporting people even though the furlough scheme ends.

“We have a plan for jobs that is focused on giving people the skills and the opportunities they need to find fantastic work and that's what we're now focused on delivering."

He added: "I feel confident about the future".

Last month, Cambridgeshire County Council said that they feared a “spike in demand” of families needing vital support this winter.

Struggling households will be targeted as part of the council’s plans to ensure they get food vouchers, debt advice and gain “increased resilience” in the face of challenges post-pandemic.

Latest figures for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) showed that there were 484,000 employers with 1.6 million staff on furlough at the end of July.

Since the start of the scheme a total of 11.6 million jobs have been put on furlough for at least part of the duration of the scheme.

The scheme was initially due to end in May 2020, but has remained in action until the end of September in a bid to keep redundancies and unemployment lower than it otherwise might have been.