Walsall, Dudley and Birmingham venues fined after breaching Covid-19 rules

The venue is one of two in the West Midlands issued with the £10,000 fine over the weekend.

The fine for the unit in Phoenix Business Park, in Stafford Street, was issued after an illegal rave was broken up in September.

It was discovered by officers out on patrol – after they spotted a number of cars and people entering one of the units just before 12.30am on September 14.

Officers tried to enter to see what was happening, as shutters were slammed shut in their faces.

Police started to take details of the cars parked up, when an officer noticed someone attempting to lock the gated area of the units preventing access in and out.

Jump the fence

Shortly after, a number of people attempted to leave but found the gates locked, some even tried to jump the fence in an effort to get away.

Officers pleaded to the person with the keys to open the gates, which eventually they did and around 100 people left.

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The owner was interviewed, and after falsely claiming the premises was broken into on the night in question, officers handed him the £10,000 fine.

A shisha lounge in Birmingham was hit with the fine after police were called to the venue on September 30 following reports of loud music.

When officers arrived at Kasablanca Shisha Lounge, the owner turned off the music and closed the shutters to deter officers from entering.

When police did enter, they found up to 250 people inside. An investigation was launched and the owner was served the £10,000 fine for facilitating the event.

Dudley breach

It comes after a fast food restaurant in Dudley was fined for breaching the 10pm closure time on Friday.

At 10.30pm, the Chicken Hut, on Castle Street, had a number of customers waiting to be served.

It breached new regulations where businesses selling food and drink have to close by 10pm and the owners were fined £1,000.

Superintendent Rich Harris, from West Midlands Police, said: “This was a really busy weekend for us with people continuing to flout the rules across the force.

“We are still following our four ‘e’s approach, however we will enforce these fines when it is obviously people are so blatantly ignoring the restrictions.

“Businesses have a responsibility not only to their customers and their staff but to the wider community and there must be consequences when Covid-19 guidance is simply ignored.

“Everyone has a part to play in reducing the spread of coronavirus, and no-one is above the law when it comes to that.

“We understand that some of the regulations are confusing and we will be explaining where we find breaches, but if people continually flout these measures, we will not hesitate to take action.”