LIDL staff in Ayrshire will be given a £200 bonus as a thank you for their hard work during COVID.

The £200 cash boost will be given to customer assistants, cleaners and warehouse workers across Lidl’s 800 stores and its 13 distribution centres.

In total, 25,000 workers will receive a bonus which means Lidl will be forking out £5.5m in total including workers in the Ayr store, Kilmarnock and Stevenston supermarkets.

And Lidl’s 1,800 office colleagues will also be given a £100 payment for their efforts during the pandemic.

It comes as Lidl and supermarkets across the board have been battling against a boom in demand for groceries over lockdown three.

Lidl chief Christian Härtnagel said the bonus awards come following an “extremely challenging period” workers have had to face due to the pandemic.

He said: “I am incredibly proud of the dedication and commitment our colleagues have shown and continue to show and this payment is about recognising their unrelenting hard work and thanking each individual for the important part they’ve played in the year like no other.”

The staff are also celebrating a pay rise due to come into force next month.

The supermarket will increase wages of staff on hourly rates from £9.30 to £9.50 per hour.

Last month B&M staff were given an extra week’s wages as recognition for their efforts during Christmas which the company described as “exceptional challenges” of the coronavirus pandemic.

Staff in Ayr, Irvine and Stevenston were among 33, 000 workers for the discount store to be given the boost of the late Christmas cash

bonus.