Pub fined £1,000 for wedding party that went on past midnight

A pub has been fined £1,000 for allowing a wedding party with up to 70 people to continue after midnight, two hours after it should have closed under coronavirus restrictions.

West Midlands Police were called to reports of a lock-in at The Greyhound in Erdington, Birmingham, and found a wedding party with drinks still being served, a DJ set up and a gazebo in the garden.

The force had a complaint about noise and the size of the gathering from a member of the public, and found between 60 and 70 people gathered with no social distancing being observed.

A buffet table full of trays of food can be seen in police bodycam footage.

Police said they dispersed the guests and then met the licensee earlier this week.

Sgt Nick Giess, licensing lead for Birmingham, said: “This was a double whammy of breaches.

“Not only were they hosting a wedding party of around 60, which was twice the number allowed at the time, but they were still open at midnight with no signs of shutting down.

“No officer wants to barge in on someone’s wedding day – but we’ve got a duty to enforce these new rules to protect not only the guests, but their loved ones and the people they’ll come into contact with.

“Our officers took a sensible approach and chose not to fine the guests, but those running licensed premises should know better.

“We’ve decided to impose a £1,000 fine, and not the £10,000 maximum, because it was on a much smaller scale than some other events, and the pub has not been in trouble with us before.”