£10k fine issued following large gathering in Kingswood

A £10,000 fixed penalty notice was issued after a large gathering was discovered at an address in Kingswood in the early hours today (2 January).

Surrey Police wishes local residents a happy New Year and thanks communities for doing the right thing and staying at home to see in 2021.

As cases continue to rise in the South East, Surrey Police continued to show its support for health colleagues by appealing to local communities to quietly mark New Year in their own home and/or bubble in line with Tier 4 restrictions.

While there were no summons issued for breaching coronavirus restrictions by holding large gatherings on New Year’s Eve, Surrey Police did issue a £10,000 fixed penalty notice after discovering a large gathering at an address in Kingswood in the early hours today (2 January).

Officers were on patrol in the area around 2.30am when they noticed a large number of cars going into an address in Stubbs Lane. An occupant at the address claimed that they were filming a video shoot for a wedding party promotion.

More than 30 vehicles were parked at the address with one car attempting to make off upon police arrival. The car was stopped nearby with four people inside, who claimed they were attending the address for a wedding.

Police set up a cordon at the entrance to the address to enable the cars to leave, while noting the number plates of the vehicles in attendance, eventually managing to disperse the majority of the guests.

Under current coronavirus restrictions, Surrey remains in Tier 4 which means that residents must stay at home and not meet up with other groups or households indoors or out.

Surrey Police has continued urging the county's residents to play their part in preventing the spread of the virus, and there has been a high level of compliance with the restrictions since the first lockdown was imposed on back 23 March.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Ali Barlow, responsible for local policing in Surrey, said: “We know that this remains a challenging time and that everyone is doing their best to adapt and follow the rules in place for everyone’s safety. We appreciate that friends and family will want to come together for special occasions and we are grateful to the majority who are adhering to the restrictions and playing their part in keeping loved ones safe and therefore supporting our frontline health colleagues.

“Our well-established policing approach of engaging, educating and explaining remains the same. However, where there are exceptional cases, only as a last resort and where people show a blatant disregard for the rules, we will take enforcement action.”