Scottish golf resorts owned by billionaire former US president Donald Trump received more than £3 million from the UK taxpayer in furlough subsidies.

Trump’s venues in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire were known to have been in receipt of furlough payments, but newly published accounts reveal the sums involved.

Trump Turnberry in Ayrshire and Balmedie in Aberdeenshire suffered heavy losses from restrictions and periods of closure during the pandemic.

Mr Trump handed control of both courses to his sons Donald Junior and Eric shortly before he became president in 2017, but he retained a financial interest.

Turnover at Golf Recreation Scotland, which owns the Turnberry fell from £19.7m in 2019 to £6.7m in 2020. A profit of £321,000 in 2019 turned into a loss of £3.4m the following year.

The company received a total of £2.3m in grants under the furlough scheme in 2020, the accounts say, while the average number of employees fell from 541 to 289.

A subsidiary of the company, SLC Turnberry, made further furlough claims of between £435,000 and £1.1m from January to August 2021, according to government data not included in the published accounts.

A statement in the accounts say: “Government support was helpful to retain as many jobs as possible, however, uncertainty of the duration of support and the pandemic’s sustained impact meant that redundancies were required to prepare the business for the long term effects to the hospitality industry.”

Trump International Golf Club Scotland Limited, which owns Donald Trump’s golf course at Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, also saw a steep drop in turnover, from £3.3m in 2019 to £1.1m in 2020, although the company’s losses rose only slightly, from £1.1m to £1.3m.

“The UK government furlough scheme was helpful to retain as many jobs as possible, and the majority of employees were reinstated over the course of the year,” the accounts say.

The company received £452,000 in from the furlough scheme in 2020, according to the accounts.

Separately, government data shows that Trump International Golf Club Scotland Limited claimed between £85,000 and £205,000 of furlough money from January to August 2021.

The average number of employees fell from 84 in 2019 to 63 in 2020, the accounts show.

Mr Trump is among a number of billionaires who accessed the furlough scheme. While they are legally allowed to do so the payments have sparked anger.

In August the RMT accused the Trump Organisation of using the pandemic as “a cynical cover” for slashing existing staff and hiring new workers on inferior wages and conditions while taking advantage of the furlough scheme.

In September Dame Margaret Hodge MP, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on anti-corruption and responsible tax, said earlier this year that it was “totally unacceptable” that billionaire business owners with firms in tax havens could “take advantage” of public funds. She accused the UK government of being “irresponsible” by failing to include conditions to its Covid-19 financial support.