More than £15,000 in fines has been handed out after police shut down an illegal rave attended by more than 300 people in east London.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police attended a venue under a railway arch on Nursery Road in Hackney in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Loud music was heard coming from inside the venue and a significant number of people were found packed inside the small space.
READ MORE: How to report Covid rule breaches to the police
Dozens of ravers attempted to flee following the arrival of the police, scaling fences at the rear of the arch while others forced open a gate to get away from officers.
The Met said multiple attempts were made to engage with the event’s organisers, who were “unco-operative”, and at one point the doors were padlocked from the inside to stop police getting in.
Additional resources including police dogs and a helicopter were deployed.
A total of 78 people were stopped and issued with fixed penalty notices to the value of £200 for breaching Covid regulations by attending an illegal gathering – a total of £15,600.
Officers at the scene in Nursery Road (Met Police)
Chief Superintendent Roy Smith, who attended the incident, said: “This was a serious and blatant breach of the public health regulations and the law in relation to unlicensed music events.
“Officers were forced, yet again, to put their own health at risk to deal with a large group of incredibly selfish people who were tightly packed together in a confined space – providing an ideal opportunity for this deadly virus to spread.
“Our front line officers continue to police this public health crisis with compassion and professionalism but it is completely unacceptable they have to face such needless risks to their own health and to their families too.
READ MORE: Hundreds of fines issued as Covid rules breached over New Year period
“Whilst we will always seek to engage and explain, the message to those who have a total disregard for the safety of others and breach the law so blatantly is clear, our officers will act swiftly and decisively.
“Not just organisers, but all those present at such illegal parties can expect to be issued a fine.”
Meanwhile, in Scotland, three people were arrested after a house party in Glasgow's South Side last night.
Police broke up the gathering in Waverley Street shortly before midnight on Saturday.
While the whole of mainland Scotland is under 'stay at home' guidance in effect from January 5, house gatherings are not permitted.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "Around 11.50pm on Saturday, 23 January, police were called to a report of a house party at an address in Waverley Street, Glasgow.
"Officers attended and three people were arrested and will be the subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal."
It comes after Police Scotland launched an online tool that allows members of the public to report ongoing Covid-19 breaches.
The form, which was first made public in December, allows people to report any breaches of relevant restrictions in place across Scotland.
How can I report a rule breach?
You can report a breach taking part in Scotland by accessing the form here.
The form is for reporting breaches and is not meant for reporting emergencies with the police still advising members of the public to call 999 in an emergency.
What have the police said about the toolkit?
Chief Superintendent Roddy Newbigging said: "An online form is already available to allow the public to report lower-level complaints and help ease the demand on our 101 and 999 services, particularly during December which is the busiest month for our control rooms.
"A separate form has now been introduced which people can use to report ongoing breaches of coronavirus regulations in Scotland.
"We would always encourage anyone to contact the police if they have concerns that someone is breaking the law, but people shouldn’t have to do that.
“People shouldn't have to call about their neighbours because everyone should be taking responsibility to do the right thing to help stop the spread of coronavirus."
Sharing the toolkit on social media, Police Scotland wrote "Our online reporting form for reporting #COVID19 breaches is now live."
"Make sure you understand the rules around gatherings for your area, via The Scottish Government, before you get in touch with us."
They added: "Don't call 101 or 999 for guidance on #COVID19 restrictions. Misuse of 101 and 999 could cost lives. You can report an ongoing breach of COVID-19 restrictions in Scotland using our online form."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here