A rule breaker who inviting a group of friends to his home to watch a boxing match has been fined.

In another week of Covid-19 rule breaking Essex Police handed out a host of fines to people across the county.

A 32-year-old in Wickford was fined after inviting a group of friends to his home to watch a boxing match over Valentines weekend.

A Southend beautician who set up a beauty parlour in her garden shed has also been fined after she was caught red-handed giving treatments.

Both the beautician and her client were fined after being caught on Tuesday.

Now, council bosses have slammed rule breakers as they urge people to take this “dangerous disease” seriously and to stop putting others in danger.

Martin Terry, cabinet member for community safety said: “This isn’t on at all. This is just one example of a number of things happening.

“People really do have to pay attention to this dangerous disease. I have had a number of whistle blowers come forward.

“If people are caught by the police they will get significant fines and I support them on that.

“We still have people suffering in hospital the way we did during the first wave. There’s still so many risks around us that we need to pay attention to.

“We are currently in a national lockdown which means shops are closed. There’s no non-essential travel and people need to remember and follow that.”.

Elsewhere in Essex, officers gatecrashed a house party in Colchester on February 11.

Despite 20 people running off when officers arrived, 11 fixed penalty notices were handed out to those still inside.

Love and disappointment was in the air over Valentine’s weekend as officers stopped people at Stansted Airport who were attempting to make non-essential travel.

Leader of Southend Council Ian Gilbert said: “It’s extremely disappointing when people break the rules. I’m glad enforcement action has been taken.

“We understand the restrictions can be very hard for people but we have to maintain them for a while yet.

“Although the vaccination effort is going well we can’t afford to relax new while there’s still a large amount of the virus in circulation.”

Wickford Councillor David Harrison added: “The ones that don’t obey they rules are going to make this last longer and it’s totally unfair.

“You’re putting other people in danger.

“People have stopped doing lots of things they loved because it’s the only way to get us back out in the open. Don’t break the rules.

“Look after yourselves and look after everyone in the area. We’re getting on top of the virus now and breaking rules will only make things worse again.”

Other breaches last week included an outdoor party with music and fireworks on Tuesday in Bulphan. On Wednesday, two people were found having tattoos in an Epping tattoo parlour.