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A website offering €200  spa vouchers to every adult in Italy as part of the government's Covid-19 scheme has crashed immediately after it was launched due to high demand. 

The padigitale.invitalia.it site crashed for 'technical reasons' yesterday after users flocked to secure their voucher and overwhelmed the web page.  

Platform host Invitalia explained yesterday members of public should book appointments directly with spas which can then apply for the discount via the website and blamed the crash on too many users trying to access the site. 

Italy's government have pledged €53million in spa vouchers for adults across the country as part of an initiative to help the leisure sector recover from the pandemic. 

Once the fund - over €43million of which has already been spent - is empty Italians will have to pay for their beauty treatments. 

Padigitale.invitalia.it, a site offering €200 spa vouchers to every adult in Italy as part of the government's Covid-19 scheme crashed yesterday, immediately after it was launched, due to high demand

Italy's government have pledged €53million in spa vouchers for adults across the country as part of an initiative to help the leisure sector recover from the pandemic (file photo) 

The website was taken offline on Monday, hours after it crashed immediately after it was launched. It was relaunched on Tuesday at noon. 

Widespread confusion about the booking process caused the site to crash, according to local media. 

The website host said yesterday Italian adults should book treatments directly with an accredited spa, which will then apply for the discount on their behalf, rather than try to claim their voucher on the Invitalia page. 

Every adult - over the age of 18 - resident of Italy was invited to apply for the voucher, called the bonus terme. 

The government said it would cover spa services including wellness and beauty treatments.

'The bonus will consist of a 100 per cent discount on the purchase price of the selected spa services, up to a maximum amount of 200 euros,' the Ministry for Economic Development said, announcing the scheme. 

The fund is the latest in a series of tax relief introduced by the Italian government to help the country recover from the Covid-19 pandemic - including tax breaks on electric cars and first homes. 

The website host said yesterday Italian adults should book treatments directly with an accredited spa, which will then apply for the discount on their behalf, rather than try to claim their voucher on the Invitalia page (file photo)