Around 100 'astoundingly irresponsible' people attend Formby rave just miles from Southport surge testing site
Around 100 "astoundingly irresponsible" people have been caught at an illegal rave - just miles from where surge testing is being carried out for the new coronavirus variant.
Police have slammed the behaviour as "utterly selfish" and said more than 60 people have now been given fines as a result of the party in Formby.
Merseyside Police were called to the illegal rave at Formby beach at around 12.50am on Sunday 7 February after reports groups of people and loud music.
Officers estimated around 100 people were present. DJ equipment and lighting were seized, and 64 people were issued with fixed penalty notices. Two people were also arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A and B drugs. The site is now being cleaned up by the local authority.
Formby lies in Sefton where targeted 'surge' testing is taking place to try to track down and isolate people infected with the South African strain of coronavirus.
It is said to be a more infectious variant of Covid-19 and it is feared there may be a number of cases in the Norwood, Cambridge and Dukes wards area of Southport - areas with the PR9 postcode.
Deputy Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: "Targeted testing for the South African Covid variant is currently taking place across three wards in Sefton after a second case of the new variant was detected. We have also seen cases of the E484K mutation of coronavirus in Liverpool this week. "It is now as important as ever that our communities in Sefton and across Merseyside stick to the national lockdown rules which means people should not be leaving their homes for non-essential reasons or meeting up with other people outside their household or support bubble.
"We need to do everything we can to protect the public during this pandemic and, rest assured, police will not hesitate to take action when people show such blatant disregard for the rules, as we saw in Formby. "Anyone with information on who organised this event, who attended or any future planned similar events is asked to get in touch with us @MerpolCC or contact @CrimestoppersUK completely anonymously."