Police hand £1,000 fines to businessman and school worker who failed to quarantine after trips abroad

A man in his 40s returned from Spain on Sunday and was told to quarantine for 14 days, as per the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (England) Regulations 2020.

But he went to work at his business in Horwich, rather than self-isolating.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police went to his business on Tuesday and he was fined £1,000 for the breach.

On the same day police also handed a £1,000 fine to a woman from Darwen who returned to her job at a high school in Bolton, despite flying back from Amsterdam two days before.

Greater Manchester Police have so far handed out four £1,000 fixed penalty notices to people failing to self-isolate on arrival from countries on the UK’s quarantine list.

An isolation period of 14 days is a requirement for anyone after international travel, with the exception of certain countries.

Those required to self-isolate may be contacted by Public Health England to check they are following the regulations.

If there is no response after a number of attempts to make contact, details will be referred to the police by Border Force.

Reports are also received from members of the public about people who are suspected of failing to quarantine.

Ch Insp Nicola Williams said: “I hope these fines send out a clear message to those who wrongly believe they are exempt from this rule that we will enforce this wherever we find there to be breaches.

“This is an immensely challenging time for all of us, whether it's the impact these restrictions are having on our personal lives or on our working lives.

"However, it is absolutely vital that the town comes together and does what it can to curb what is a worrying rate of transmission in the area, and we have been working tirelessly at GMP and alongside the council to ensure that we too are doing all we can.

“This includes those who recklessly flout quarantining rules when coming back from abroad and who run the risk of infecting others, especially when they are working or socialising with groups of people and putting them at risk.

"We are still working by the principles of engaging, explaining and encouraging before opting for the last resort of enforcing, but there is no tolerance for those who are blatantly ignoring the rules that the rest of us are doing our best to abide by on a daily basis."

Reports of coronavirus regulation breaches can be made via www.gmp.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/c19/tell-us-about-possible-breach-coronavirus-measures/