Wiltshire Council has confirmed the name of licensed premises fined for repeated lockdown breaches after Wiltshire 999s argued that it was in the public interest.
The local authority yesterday announced it had issued the £1,000 fine and the licensee had admitted breaking the law on more than one occasion, but the name of the establishment was withheld from the public.
The council initially said it would not name the licensed premises over fears it could harm their reputation but later confirmed it as Trowbridge Sports Bar.
Police officers were called to the bar in Castle Street on New Year’s Eve, where they found a number of people gathered inside for a private party despite the Wiltshire being in Tier 3.
But this wasn’t the first time they had been visited in relation to breaching lockdown laws put in place by the government to save lives and protect the NHS.
“Officers had already discussed breaches of the COVID regulations with this licensee, and they had already received both verbal and written warnings for non-compliance previously”, councillor Philip Whitehead, the leader of Wiltshire Council, said.
Adding: “After this breach we had no choice but to issue a fixed penalty notice.
“We will always take the view that talking to businesses and explaining where they may have breached regulations is the right way to approach this, but when we do have repeat offenders, we will not hesitate to issue fixed penalty notices, and in extreme cases, use some of the other measures available to us.
“This case highlights the excellent partnership working between our officers and Wiltshire Police, and I would like to pay tribute to the officers of both organisations for their collaboration in these challenging times.”
