Takeaway fined £1,000 for serving customer four minutes after 10pm curfew
5 October 2020, 10:25
A burger takeaway has been handed a hefty fine for breaking the latest lockdown rules.
A takeaway in London has been fined £1,000 for serving food to a customer four minutes after the 10pm coronavirus curfew.
Bim’s in Ilford was caught by the COVID-19 enforcement team with a single customer inside their premises past the cut off time on Thursday.
Redbridge Police said they looked at the customer’s receipt and it said he was served at ‘10pm on the dot.’
However, he was not given his order until 10.04pm, so a fine was given.
The owners have since said that their staff had no idea these were the rules, and ‘unknowingly breached’ the curfew.
Our Public Health team were out handing out masks in Ilford Town, whilst our Enforcement Officers were carrying out COVID-19 compliance inspections on businesses in Barkingside.
— Redbridge Council (@RedbridgeLive) October 1, 2020
If you know any businesses not complying, report it here ➡️ https://t.co/cjTExeo7aa #KeepLondonSafe pic.twitter.com/wakhR3s9eK
They said in a statement: "Our staff were under the impression that if an order was placed by 10pm it could still be served.
"The food took less than four minutes to arrive and he left at 10.04 pm.
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"Our staff were then shocked to be informed that they had breached the new laws by a matter of four minutes.
"New rules regarding COVID-19 are being made thick and fast and sometimes it isn't clear exactly how they should be interpreted."
Bim’s said that the mistake was ‘made in good faith’, adding they ‘will obviously take greater care in future to abide by the law’.
Matt Hancock announces local lockdown restrictions for Liverpool
As of September 24, all hospitality venues in England were told they must shut their doors at exactly 10pm after a spike in coronavirus cases.
In Wales, pubs have been afforded 20 minutes of flexibility.
Meanwhile, Ilford is in the east London borough of Redbridge, which has been hit by the highest rate of Covid-19 infections out of all 28 London boroughs.
The latest Public Health England figures show it has 59 cases per 100,000 people, followed by Barking and Dagenham which have 53.5 cases per 100,000 people.
Earlier in the week, other businesses in Ilford also faced fines for similar breaches.
On Thursday, Fireaway Pizza was fined after police found two customers not wearing masks and waiting on the premises at 10.20pm after ordering.
Redbridge Police said Spice on Ilford High Street was also fined ‘for subsequent breaches’.
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