Fines have been issued to people attending a gym, a hotel and a house party as police enforce new coronavirus regulations.
Eighteen revellers were fined nearly £15,000 in total after holding a illegal house party in Essex that breached Covid lockdown rules on Saturday- and telling Essex police they were shooting a music video.
Pictures from inside the £4 million party house in Sewardstonebury, near Chingford, which had been rented for the occasion, show countertops littered with vodka bottles, red party cups and drug paraphernalia.
Essex Police raided the property at 5pm yesterday, fining 18 people £800 each – 17 of whom were from London, and one from Essex.
The property, Knoll House, is now under investigation with police being called to break up three illegal gatherings there in the past four weeks.
Eighteen revellers are slapped with fines totalling nearly £15,000 after they were caught holding illegal house party at Knoll House on Bury Road, Sewardstonebury, Essex, on Saturday
Pictures show party light machines (bottom left) and a large amount of alcohol on the counter tops of the rented property’s kitchen
A spokesman for Essex Police said officers attended a house in Bury Road, Sewardstonebury, at about 5pm on Saturday after reports of a party and when they arrived were initially refused entry by people inside who claimed to be making a music video.
The force added: ‘An investigation led by our detectives is now underway to establish who organised the event. We are also working with our partners to put measures in place to prevent the future unlawful use of the property.’
The same property was used to host an extravagant and illegal New Years Eve party for 100 people, which featured a DJ, a fire dancer and alcohol served in large ice buckets by a waiter in a bow tie.
The woman organiser of the party was given a £10,000 fixed penalty notice by Essex Police for breaking strict anti-coronavirus rules.
Police are seen escorting party-goers out of the property in Sewardstonebury on Saturday
Earlier this month police were called to another illegal gathering at the property, and again on Saturday.
Following the incident on Saturday Essex Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Pippa Mills, said: ‘This party was a clear and blatant breach of the current restrictions which were put in place to save lives and protect the NHS.
‘These selfish individuals not only have no regard for their own safety, but they clearly didn’t give a second thought for the safety of the local community, the police officers who had to attend to deal with their reckless behaviour or the NHS who are under unbelievable pressure.’
The Essex party took place at a luxury property called Knoll House in the upmarket hamlet of Sewardstonebury in Epping Forest (pictured)
Officers also handed out more than 25 fixed penalty notices to guests on New Year’s Eve and seized sound equipment (pictured) from the luxury house
The latest coronavirus regulations in England, which came into force at 5pm on Friday, include fines of £800 for people caught at house parties with groups of more than 15 people and will double after each offence, up to a maximum of £6,400 for repeat offenders.
Police raided an illegal party on a boat moored in Ealing, London, on the River Thames last night giving the 72 people aboard fines of £800 each, while the organiser was fined £10,000 for staging the party.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said today: ‘Police were called to Volt Avenue, shortly after 23.00hrs yesterday, to reports of a large gathering on a moored boat.
‘Police attended and located the party which was attended by more than 70 people. The group was dispersed and a total of 72 people were reported for the consideration of fixed penalty notices of £800 for attending an indoor gathering of more than 15 people in breach of the Coronavirus regulations.
‘The organiser was identified and reported for consideration of a £10,000 fixed penalty notice.’
Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Bowen said: ‘This was a blatant breach of the Coronavirus rules that are in place to save lives and protect the huge pressure on the NHS.
‘All the people who attended this event, which appears to have been organised on social media, have quite rightly been reported for the consideration of fines.
‘The Met will continue to shut down and disperse events such as this, which risk spreading a virus that has already claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people in this country.’
At 3.15am today officers found around 200 people at the Richmond Hotel in Liverpool city centre where four parties were going on
In Merseyside, police issued fixed penalty notices to 19 people who were found in Shred Fast Gym on Long Lane in Aintree at 10.30pm on Saturday.
The force, which has reported the business owner to the local authority, said those attending were not wearing PPE or social distancing and had travelled from areas including Billinge, Widnes, Wirral and Southport.
At 3.15am today officers found around 200 people at the Richmond Hotel in Liverpool city centre where four parties were going on, the force said.
A police spokesman said 13 fixed penalty notices were issued, 11 documented warnings were given and everyone who was not a legitimate guest at the hotel was removed.
One woman was arrested on suspicion of breaching coronavirus legislation and two counts of assaulting a constable and a man was arrested as he was wanted, the force said.
Chief Superintendent Matt Boyle said: ‘This sort of behaviour is unbelievable and unacceptable and officers should not be confronted with abuse and violence when attempting to uphold the law, which most people are rightly abiding by.’