Coronavirus lockdown: Leicester men fined £200 each for ‘pop-up pub’

Seven men caught drinking and watching football in Leicester ‘pop-up pub’ complete with Sky TV, fully stocked bar and pool table are fined £200 each for flouting Covid rules

  • A large bin was filled with empty beer cans at a makeshift boozer in Leicester
  • Seven men were fined £200 each for breaching coronavirus lockdown rules 
  • Footage shows the moment the men were caught by a team of police officers 

Seven men have been fined £200 each for flouting coronavirus rules after they were caught drinking in a ‘pop-up pub’.

A bin was filled with empty beer cans in the makeshift boozer in an industrial estate in Leicester on Wednesday night.

Footage taken on a police bodycam showed the men playing pool and getting ready to watch The Foxes play Brighton in the FA Cup at 7.30pm.    

Police carried out enforcement at the premises just as the football match kicked off. 

Footage taken on a police bodycam showed the men playing pool and getting ready to watch The Foxes play Brighton in the FA Cup at 7.30pm

Leicestershire Police said bottled alcohol was being consumed but no money appeared to be being exchanged and there was no till present

Leicestershire Police said bottled alcohol was being consumed but no money appeared to be being exchanged and there was no till present

They found the group drinking beer together inside the large room, which had a pool table, a large screen television connected to a Sky Box and a well-stocked bar.

One police officer can heard saying to the men: ‘Hello folks, are you alright? What you doing? Sorry guys for spoiling your fun.’

Each of the men, who claimed they all worked at the premises, were issued with a fixed penalty notice of £200 for breaching Covid lockdown rules.

Leicestershire Police said bottled alcohol was being consumed but no money appeared to be being exchanged and there was no till present.

A bin was filled with empty beer cans in the makeshift boozer in an industrial estate in Leicester on Wednesday night

A bin was filled with empty beer cans in the makeshift boozer in an industrial estate in Leicester on Wednesday night

Each of the men, who claimed they all worked at the premises, were issued with a fixed penalty notice of £200 for breaching Covid lockdown rules

Each of the men, who claimed they all worked at the premises, were issued with a fixed penalty notice of £200 for breaching Covid lockdown rules

Sergeant Ben Widdowson said: ‘Officers acted on information received to carry out effective enforcement leading to seven people being issued with Fixed Penalty Notices.

‘Gatherings such as this puts the lives of you, your family, your friends and people in your community at risk.

‘We will take action on information received and while we continue to encourage, engage and explain in relation to the regulations, we will enforce when clear breaches of the regulations have been made.

‘Times are challenging for everyone but please stay at home and keep yourselves and others safe.

‘We do continue to thank everyone who is complying with the rules and understanding why they are in place as well as to those who are reporting breaches of the regulations to us.’