Somerset business owner fined for 'shocking' Covid breach after serving alcohol

  • Watch the bodycam footage released by Avon and Somerset Police.

A Somerset business owner has been fined £1,000 after "shocking" breach of Covid-19 restrictions.

Several customers were found inside a farm in Mudgley near Wedmore, drinking cider around tables with no social distancing or face masks.

Police were called to the farm on Saturday 30 January.

The business owner - who had served the cider to customers - told police he was providing customers with samples of cider.

The owner said knew he was in breach of the regulations. He was issued with a £1,000 fixed penalty notice.

Police notified Sedgemoor District Council’s licensing team of the incident.

Acting Sergeant Matthew Shaqer said: “The Covid-19 regulations are clear that alcohol cannot be served to customers for on-site consumption at this current time. Several people could be seen sat at tables with a glass of cider in a clear breach of the regulations.

“It was shocking to walk into the premises and find so many people there. Any one of them could have had the virus but been asymptomatic and spread the virus to a number of other households.

“We will continue to engage with the public, explain the rules and encourage them to comply, but with deliberate flagrant breaches of the legislation people can expect to be fined.

“We appreciate the vast majority of people are however complying with the rules and are making sacrifices to their daily lives to limit the spread of COVID-19 and we thank them for doing so.”

Read more: