More than 475,000 requests for applications have been made to Northern Ireland’s high street voucher scheme on the first day.

The £145 million High Street Stimulus Scheme will see all those aged over 18 eligible for a £100 pre-paid card to spend, aimed at supporting local businesses which have been devastated by Covid.

Demand for the scheme was so high that the online application portal was hit by problems shortly after it opened on Monday morning, with a number of people taking to social media to complain that were experiencing difficulties in applying for the card on the NI Direct site.

Some said the site had crashed, while others had not immediately received a verification email after entering their details.

But Stormont’s Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said that the problems were quickly resolved.

He said: “Nearly 15% of the population has now started their applications for the Spend Local card. This is an excellent first day.

“We were always clear that demand for the Spend Local card would be extremely high.

“There is still ground to cover and this is why we have allowed four weeks for people to apply.

“Everyone will have enough time to apply for their card. But the figures so far have been extraordinary.”

In total there were 475,081 applications, with 96,986 of those completed on Monday.

Coronavirus – Mon Sep 27, 2021
Shoppers on the high street in Belfast on Monday (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Lyons earlier told the BBC: “We always knew there was going to be a huge demand and that is why we had system in place that allowed up to 50,000 per hour to use the system.

“We put additional safeguarding measures in place so that whenever you went online and put in your email address, that the email would not be sent out to you until there was space and capacity within the system because the last thing that we wanted was to see the system overwhelmed.

“So, although some people had a bit of a wait to get onto the website and a bit of a wait for the email itself, the website was always running, it was always open and it is working.

“I know there was significant demand earlier, the issues have been resolved and the applications are now progressing through our system.”

All applicants will be asked to provide their name, address, age, gender, disability status, national insurance number, email address and telephone number.

The application portal will remain open until October 25, with the first cards arriving in the post on the week beginning October 4.

The cards will be valid until November 30.

Coronavirus – Mon Sep 27, 2021
Eugene Donnelly, owner of Old Time Favourites in Belfast. Eugene has welcomed opening of the High Street Voucher Scheme (Liam McBurney/PA)

Eugene Donnelly, owner of Old Time Favourites sweet shop in Belfast, said he believed that the scheme could help to restore business which was lost during Covid lockdowns.

He said: “I think it is a brilliant idea for retail.

“It is a real stimulus for the high street which has been under pressure from internet shopping, especially during lockdown.

“I hope customers come in and they can spend anything from a pound right up.

“We are hoping our footfall will increase.”

Shoppers in Belfast were excited about the prospect of applying for the £100 pre-paid card.

NI High Street voucher scheme
A woman using a mobile phone showing an error message after attempting to open a link to the High Street voucher scheme pre-paid card on the NI Direct website (Liam McBurney/PA)

Aisling McGirr, who was with friend Aine McCooey, said: “We haven’t applied for it yet.

“We were supposed to do it this morning but the website was down.

“That’s what I’ll be doing as soon as I get home.

“I will be definitely spending it in clothes.

“Be sensible and get stuff for university like notebooks and pens.

“We will maybe treat ourselves to a night out.”

Meanwhile, as applications began flooding in, DUP MLA Christopher Stalford warned the Assembly that the Stormont stimulus initiative could be money spent in vain if the Executive decides to trigger a circuit breaker lockdown next month.