UK Police Break up London Boat Party With Over 70 Guests

Police maintain a presence at Clapham Common during the anti-lockdown demonstration in London, England, on Jan. 9, 2021. (Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

British police on Saturday night broke up a party being held on a boat with more than 70 guests in attendance, in breach of CCP virus restrictions, London police said.

The Metropolitan Police said it received reports of a large gathering on a moored boat on Saturday evening.

Officers arrived at the venue in Volt Avenue, North Acton, at 2300 GMT local time and saw more than 70 people at the party.

The group was dispersed and a total of 72 people were reported for the consideration of fixed penalty notices of £800 ($1,096) each for breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules.

The £800 fine, which was introduced last week by Home Secretary Priti Patel, applies to those who attend gatherings of more than 15 people in homes.

The organiser of the boat party was identified and will face a £10,000 ($13,705) fine, police said.

Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Bowen said the party “appears to have been organised on social media.”

Also on Saturday, Essex police broke up a house party at a vacant rental property, which was attended by 18 people.

When officers attended the venue in Bury Road, Sewardstonebury, at 1700 GMT, they were initially refused entry from those inside who claimed to be making a music video, police said.

When they finally got inside, the officers found 18 individuals “clearly having a party while others were still arriving at the property.”

All 18 people present were fined £800 each for breaching CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus restrictions and an investigation is under way to establish who organised the event, said the police.

The UK has been under varying levels of CCP virus restrictions since the pandemic began last spring.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the whole of England under the third national lockdown to curb the spread of a new variant first detected in southeast England, which he said had a higher transmissibility than the old variant.

Police forces, including the Metropolitan police in London, have said they are taking a stricter approach to enforcing the lockdown rules.

Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chief Council, said on Jan. 13 that he would make “no apology” for the almost 45,000 fixed penalty notices that had been issued against rule-breakers.

Simon Veazey, Mary Clark, and Lily Zhou contributed to this report.