Coronavirus: Blackburn wedding party of 100 broken up by police

4 years ago 262
Blackburn sign about coronavirus restrictionsImage copyright Reuters Image caption Blackburn with Darwen brought in new measures in July after a spike in Covid-19 cases

A wedding reception of more than 100 guests has been broken up by police in Blackburn.

Blackburn with Darwen brought in extra measures on 14 July after a spike in Covid-19 cases to try to avoid a Leicester-style local lockdown.

Officers said it was a "significant breach of Covid restrictions" that "puts everyone at risk" but have not disclosed the location.

The gathering on Sunday was dispersed and no further action was taken.

'Clear breach'

In a statement police said: "Disappointing incident in Blackburn this evening.

"Officers have attended a report of a significant breach of Covid restrictions, and found over 100 guests at a wedding reception.

"This is a clear breach of both local and national restrictions that puts everyone attending at risk.

"Officers have engaged with the attendees and at police instruction the gathering was dispersed without further issue.

"Please work with us to help keep everyone safe by following the guidelines and restrictions."

'Stronger action'

The borough's director of public health, Dominic Harrison, said: "It's not fair to the majority of the population who are sticking by the guidance we've put out.

"Many people have made sacrifices and for them, something like this is not fair.

"We as a council, with the police, are going to be looking to take stronger action than we have up to now on events like this over the coming weeks."

He said the area's coronavirus rates were currently "high but contained, but they are not yet coming down as fast as we hoped".

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk

Read Entire Article