Six students living in a shared house near Nottingham University are facing a hefty bill after a weekend party “got out of hand.”
Fifty people were at the boozy bash in Lenton, Nottingham, when the limit on group gatherings is currently 30.
Council community protection officers attended the property at around 7pm on Friday after a complaint that the party was breaching lockdown rules, but the 19-year-old man hosting the party reportedly became “hostile” prompting officials to get the police involved.
The teenager has since been landed with a £10,000 fine.
Police said if the lad fails to pay the fine or chooses to challenge it, he will have to appear before a court.
Days before the government’s new ‘Rule of Six’ comes into force, assistant chief constable Steve Cooper from Nottinghamshire Police said: “We need to all remember we are very much still in the middle of a global pandemic and we all need to take responsibility for our actions.
“This party was a clear example of a householder who deliberately flouted the rules without a care for anyone else and as a result we have used the full powers we have to deal with this.”
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"Under current rules," he added, "we can issue fines to anyone hosting gatherings of more than 30 people which can result in fines of up to £10,000. And now we are on the eve of rules becoming even tighter so there can be gatherings of no more than six.
"I want to send out a clear message to anyone who is thinking of deliberately hosting parties tonight or tomorrow night ahead of the rules changing to please not do this.
"As we have demonstrated here we are not afraid to use the full powers we have and we will not tolerate those who are deliberately put other people’s lives in danger."
Speaking to reporters afterwards, one of the housemates said: "It was meant to be a small gathering with mates and it got out of hand.
“We had invited 25 people and it was out in the garden and aimed to end at 11pm and we were trying to social distance but then people invited their mates and so on.
“It got out of hand and we are really sorry.”
Amy English, Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for City Central, told Nottinghamshire Live : "Residents have had fair warning that we won't tolerate people flouting the laws and regulations around the coronavirus restrictions must be adhered to by everyone.
"In this case the resident also had the chance to shut the party down when they were first visited by our council colleagues.”
There were 66 new positive tests of Covid-19 recorded across Nottinghamshire in the last 24 hours, according to latest figures, with the R-value for the county currently estimated to lie somewhere between 1.1 and 1.8.
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