Police hand out £10,000 fine following illegal party at Blackburn’s Cellar Bar

Lancashire Police have handed out the highest fine possible after closing down a party at the former Cellar Bar.

The person in charge of the premises has been given the full £10,000 fine for breaching the Government restrictions.

The party was held at bar on King Street in Blackburn town centre on Saturday, October 17^th.

Police also handed out £500 fines to a further five party goers.

The Council’s Public Protection team will be looking at the incident and working with partners to see what further action will be required.

Blackburn with Darwen, along with the whole of Lancashire, was placed under Tier 3 restrictions from midnight on Saturday – this is currently the highest alert level possible and was brought in due to the high number of cases in the area.

It means that people can only see family and friends in any indoor setting if they are part of their household or support bubble.

Councillor Phil Riley, Executive Member for Growth and Development, said:

This is utterly reckless and dangerous behaviour from both the organiser and the people attending this party. The person who organised this has been given a very large fine which I am sure will make them think twice about doing something similar again.

I know that many people are getting fed up of the ongoing restrictions but they are there for a reason. Gatherings like this, whether they involve alcohol or not, massively increase the chances of catching and spreading the virus, meaning our numbers will continue to rise and we will be under these restrictions for much longer than we could be. Parties like this are, in the long term, will make it much harder for everybody in the borough to get back to their normal lives.”

Further details on the Tier 3 restrictions can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-covid-alert-level-very-high

Any concerns about a premises that may be breaching restrictions can be sent to: publicprotection@blackburn.gov.uk