Twelve footballers fined £200 each for visiting pub as ‘one household’

A football team has been fined £200 each for claiming to be from the same household in order to drink at a pub in northeast England.

The 12 men were together at a boozer in South Tyneside, near Newcastle, on Sunday night when a concerned staff member challenged them.

South Tyneside is classified as "high risk" Tier 2 under the Government's Covid alert system, which means mixing between different households is prohibited and the "rule of six" still applies.

However, people are still allowed to visit pubs and restaurants provided they live together.

The group insisted they were all housemates.

Unconvinced, the pub worker called police – reporting a breach of the coronavirus regulations.

Officers arrived at the scene and issued the group with fines.

Chief Superintendent Janice Hutton, of Northumbria Police, said: “This group showed a flagrant disregard for the rules which are in place to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“Actions like this undermine the efforts being made by the majority of others in order to protect themselves, their family, friends and wider communities.

“We will continue to work closely with our communities and offer advice to people who have mistakenly broken the restrictions.

“However, as we have made clear, where individuals are choosing to ignore the measures in place, we are committed to taking enforcement action to protect our communities.”

The force declined to name the football team, or the pub.

They confirmed that the players were fined £200 each, reduced to £100 if they pay within 14 days, and they were all from different households sitting indoors in the pub.

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