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Restaurant director fined for wedding Covid breach

The director of a restaurant has been fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs after admitting to flouting Covid regulations by hosting a wedding.

Wanda Trela-Pyzalska, director of The Tavern & Restaurant Ltd in Bath Road, Kettering pleaded guilty to the charge at Wellingborough Magistrates Court.

In April last year, the venue applied to North Northamptonshire Council for a Temporary Event Notice, TEN, to host a wedding at the premises in May. The council advised that such events were prohibited by the Covid regulations in place at the time and that the applicant would be in breach of those regulations if the event took place. Ms Trela-Pyzalska was asked to provide more information to NNC but she failed to do so and withdrew the TEN.

A North Northamptonshire Council officer visited the premises on May 15 last year with two police officers, where they witnessed a wedding celebration taking place on the first floor of the premises with 27 people in attendance.

They informed the owner that the celebration was in breach of the Covid regulations and on request, the guests agreed to leave the premises and sit outside in groups of no more than six people. The owner also agreed to close the premises by 10pm that evening.

Simon Blatchly, assistant chief constable of Northamptonshire Police, said after the hearing: “The rules around large gatherings were very clear at the time of this offence. We know the vast majority of businesses abided by the law during the pandemic, particularly when the risk to public health was high, and so it is right that those people who so flagrantly broke the law are pursued in the courts.”

The council said the legislation in place at the time was clear and there to protect both staff and customers and minimise risk of spreading the virus. Council leader Cllr Jason Smithers said: “Our officers will only act if all other options have been exhausted and, unfortunately, as this case shows the fines can be costly to businesses.”

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