House party in Wiltshire broken up by police - nine Covid fines issued
A group of people who went to a house party in Wiltshire have been accused of showing a "selfish disregard" for public safety by police.
Nine people have been fined £200 each after the gathering at a house in Amesbury.
Officers attended a property in Shears Drive at around 4.45pm on Monday 1 February and found nine and adults and one child having a barbecue in the garden.
The nine adults, who were aged between 20 and 44 and all lived in the Amesbury and Salisbury areas, were issued with fixed penalty notices.The gathering has been brandished as a "blatant breach of lockdown rules" with police saying the organisers and attendees are showing a "selfish disregard for the health and safety of the general public".
Superintendent Dave Minty, from Wiltshire Police, said he was disappointed and officers "will not tolerate" these kind of breaches.
He said: “Following on from the house party in Swindon over the weekend, which had 23 people in attendance, it is shocking to see a similar incident in Amesbury yesterday.“It goes without saying that there can be no excuse for these types of gatherings – the rules are crystal clear and have been in place for some time.“We are now in our third national lockdown and everybody knows that we are all being asked to limit social contact and stay at home to protect the NHS.
This is not the only illegal house party to have taken place in the region over the past few days.
In Swindon, £800 fines were issued to 23 people who broke Covid lockdown rules to go to a house party.
In Plymouth, two people were arrested and 16 people fined after an illegal 'lockdown house party'.
All attendees were fined £800 each and the organiser was fined £10,000.
And in Bristol, officers were called to a party at a house in Tyndalls Park Road in Clifton on the evening of 29 January.
More than 50 people were found inside the address, including several who attempted to flee as officers arrived.
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