There may be a lockdown in place at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped a minority of people doing whatever they want.
Police have dished out a host of fines to people in south Essex who have been making non-essential journeys, and therefore breaching the Covid rules.
Despite this being the third national lockdown in less than a year, there have been multiple incidents in the past few months of ‘Covidiots’ getting caught breaking the rules.
Here are just five examples we have seen since Essex was placed in a Tier 4 lockdown in December.
Car meet held…. opposite police station
Only last week, more than a dozen people were fined for hosting an illegal car meet in a multi-storey site.
The event was held in the Great Oaks Car Park, Basildon on Wednesday night.
But organisers had forgotten one key issue – the car park is based right in front of the town’s police station.
Officers at the station didn’t take long to clock what was going on over the road.
When they arrived, they found a group of drivers in the car park who had met up to inspect each other’s vehicles - a hobby which is against the Government’s coronavirus regulations.
A total of 13 fines were dished out.
Visit to sea fort 
The trio, who came from Staffordshire, got into a rib and set off in an attempt to reach the Red Sands Sea Fort in Whitstable.
But they soon got into difficulty on the water and had to be rescued by emergency services.
They were brought into Sheerness Docks where they told officers they had intended to spend the night at the sea fort.
The men, aged between 31 and 41, were issued with fines for breaching Covid-19 regulations, Kent Police said.
Assistant Chief Constable Claire Nix said: “Whilst the vast majority of people continue to abide by the latest Government guidelines to help stop the spread of the virus, it is incredibly frustrating that there are still a small minority who think the rules don’t apply to them.
“We have seen examples of people who are not only behaving selfishly, but also putting unnecessary strain on the emergency services with their reckless actions.”
READ MORE:
- Fury as takeaway van is ordered to stop trading over fears it encourages Covid breaches
- Music lessons, test drives and sightseeing: Police dish out fines for more Covid breaches
Illegal football match
A man was slapped with a £200 fine for arranging an illegal football match.
About 30 parents watched their children play in the match which was staged in Laindon Common Road, Billericay.
Essex Police initially said no laws or Covid breaches took place after the organiser claimed he was linked to a Premier League football club.
A spokesman said: “Based on this information officers took a view that this activity was allowed under the regulations on elite sport and no breach of COVID-19 regulations had taken place.
"However, following further enquiries we now believe what officers had initially been told was not the case, the match had not been arranged by an elite level football club, and the match did breach the Government’s regulations.
"We’re now taking enforcement action against those involved and yesterday we have issued a man from Witham a £200 fine.”
New Year’s Eve rave
Hundreds of revellers attended a New Year’s Eve party at a historic church in Horndon, near Brentwood.
The party-goers had broken into the church and set up the illegal event, despite Essex being in a Tier 4 lockdown which required everyone to stay at home except for essential travel.
Officers were pelted with objects and threatened when attempting to shutdown the illegal event.
They were eventually able to disperse the large crowd and seize music equipment found in the church.
Several arrests have since been made, and a 32-year-old man from Wickford has since admitted organising the event.
He was handed a £200 fine by officers, but will not face any further action in relation to a burglary offence linked to the investigation.
Late-night drive around Southend
Three Londoners drove to Southend in the middle of the night...only to be slapped with a £300 Covid fine and left with no way of getting home.
Each one was fined for breaking Covid restrictions after they drove from the capital to Southend, but were then flagged down on Victoria Avenue at 2.30am for having no insurance.
Their Toyota was then seized by police.
Essex Police revealed how the occupants of the car “could not explain” why they had travelled from London to Southend, and “couldn’t prove their journey was essential.”
Ron Woodley, deputy leader of Southend Council, slammed the driver and the two passengers.
He said: “The fact their car was seized serves them right. Police should have told them to walk home.”
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