House parties and hair dye: Hundreds fined for breaking Covid restrictions

Hundreds of people were fined for breaching coronavirus restrictions over the weekend including more than 100 people who attended one of eight house parties in Cardiff and three women who were caught having their hair dyed in a car park.South Wales Police revealed that more than 370 people were fined in total for breaking the rules currently in place throughout Wales, which remains under an ‘Alert Level 4’ lockdown that was implemented on December 20.Despite the ongoing restrictions, police say the warm weather seen across large parts of the country on Saturday and Sunday saw many people travelling to beaches and parks, while some gathered in numbers outdoors to drink alcohol.

Among those fined across the weekend included 13 people for non-essential travel to Penarth Pier, two people who were on their way from Newport for a day at a Swansea beach, 11 people who had travelled from various areas - including Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Cardiff, Warwickshire and Coventry - to visit Southerndown, and four people who had travelled to walk their dog in Cyfarthfa in Merthyr Tydfil.Meanwhile, 105 fines were handed to attendees of eight different house parties in the Cathays area of Cardiff, while 13 others were caught at two parties in Barry.Fourteen people were fined for being at two different house parties in the Ely area of Cardiff, and four people were handed penalties for being at a pub in Llandaff.Further west, a group of five men were stopped and fined having travelled from England to attend a party in the Brynmill area of Swansea, while 11 people attended a house party in the city centre.Five woman were found at a house party in the Port Tennant area of the city, and three other women were fined for having their hair dyed in a car park in Langland Bay.South Wales Police said investigations are underway in relation to “a number of incidents”, and a number of referrals for follow-up action have also been made.Meanwhile, 10 people who attended protests in Swansea city centre have also been reported for summons for breaching Covid regulations.“We know it’s been a very challenging few months for our communities, and we can understand that people will have wanted a change of scenery in order to enjoy the good weather at the weekend,” said Chief Superintendent Andy Valentine.“But the reality is, coronavirus remains a very real threat to us all, and the whole of Wales continues to be under Level 4 restrictions for a reason."The vast majority of us have made real sacrifices to support the national effort; to stop doing so now at such a crucial point risks undoing all we have achieved so far.“The rollout of the vaccine and the recent publication of plans to ease restrictions provides us all with much needed hope, but I would urge our local communities to continue following the rules that are currently in place."We do not want to be enforcing these rules, our preference would of course be for everyone to do the right thing.But we remain unapologetically clear - those who blatantly or repeatedly breach the rules will face enforcement action.”