The licensee of premises in Trowbridge has been fined after repeatedly breaching coronavirus regulations, but the council has refused to name them.
The establishment was visited by officers from Wiltshire Police on New Year’s Eve, who found a small group of people attending a private party despite having previously received both verbal and written warnings for non-compliance.
A fixed penalty notice (FPN) of £1,000 was issued by Wiltshire Council for failing to comply with the emergency lockdown legislation in place to prevent the spread COVID-19.
The evidence collected at the time by the police officers was shared with the council’s licensing team, who then issued the FPN under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations for failing to close the licensed premises, as was required because Wiltshire was in Tier 3 at the time. The council has spoken to the licensee, who has admitted the offence.
When Wiltshire 999s approached the council to confirm the name of the licensee, and the business involved, our request was refused, despite them admitting the offences.
Councillor Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “Of course, issuing fixed penalty notices to Wiltshire businesses for breaches of COVID legislation is not something we want to do, and it is a last resort.
“In this case, our 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, so 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.”
