'Shocking number of fines' issued to Tier 3 drinkers who flouted Covid rules to visit York

Officers estimate more than 160 tickets will have been issued last weekend alone following spot checks on licensed premises with council support marshalls.

The North Yorkshire force have now urged people living outside the county’s Tier 2 boundaries to follow current coronavirus regulations and warned: “Where we encounter people who refuse to adhere to the regulations and believe their pint is more important than someone’s life, we will use our enforcement powers.”

The weekend checks revealed that many of the visitors “were found to be from multiple households who were mixing indoors, clearly breaking the tier 3 restrictions which travel with them”.

While some did disperse and leave the area, others were resistant to police advice and received fines.

Superintendent Mike Walker, who is leading the North Yorkshire Police response to Covid-19 said: “Looking at the numbers of fines handed out this weekend which are still awaiting processing, we believe that we have handed out over 160 tickets, with the vast majority being issued to tier 3 residents who visited York to mix and socialise indoors, which is in clear breach of their restrictions.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have been very clear about our approach and the action taken this weekend is evidence of it. We have stated our teams would be patrolling, speaking to the public and encouraging them to adhere to the rules.

"Where we encounter people who refuse to adhere to the regulations and believe their pint is more important than someone’s life, we will use our enforcement powers.”

York is a popular destination for day trippers on the train from the North East although police have not revealed where the people fined were from.

Nearby West Yorkshire is also in Tier 3 and connected to the city by rail.

Supt Walker added: “Some people who were spoken to by officers did go home. However, our teams encountered large numbers of people who were not responsive to the advice, leaving us no option but to enforce through the use of fixed penalty notices.

“We will continue to patrol the city and the wider county and we will be visiting licensed premises and busy shopping areas.”

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