Police disperse gathering of around 70 people in Telford
Police dispersed a gathering of around 70 people at a country park in Telford on Saturday evening.
Officers attended Granville Country Park to discover a group had gathered with a DJ set up.
Tweeting on the @TelfordCops twitter account an officer who attended said they had asked one of the attendees why they were at the gathering, the reply was "I'm sick of self-isolation".
It is currently against the law to be outside the place where you live "without reasonable excuse", or to be part of a public gathering.
Police are permitted to give an on-the-spot fine of £100 for anyone caught breaching lockdown rules and have the powers to disperse gatherings, and arrest those not complying.
A West Mercia Police spokesperson said: "We don't fine unless there is no other action open. We engage and explain. We asked the group to disperse and they did. We would ask anyone who is thinking of organizing one of these events to think of the bigger picture. Please refer to the government guidelines."
We are attending a mass gathering/rave at the Granville park. I'm told 70 people here! We have worked so hard and sacrificed so much and this group decide it doesn't apply. I'm shocked that people would care so little. #hangYourHeadsInShame pic.twitter.com/VygsMcjLyF https://twitter.com/TelfordCops/status/1261736903856054273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I asked one of them why they came to this event. "I'm sick of self isolation" https://twitter.com/TelfordCops/status/1261745721277104128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
They had a DJ set up and appears to be pre planned. We dispersed them for now. The image is of a few leaving. I couldn't take pictures of them close up as we dont name and shame. https://twitter.com/TelfordCops/status/1261781266069893121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
