Police break up student party in County Townhouse during lockdown

Nearly 80 County students were found to have breached lockdown rules last week by hosting a house party in a campus townhouse.

The townhouse was discovered by police to have breached lockdown restrictions by having 78 people in one townhouse on 7th January. One student who attended that party said: “It was a massive party with about 70 or so people and it got shut down by the porters after a while. The only problem was people just broke off into smaller parties and continued!”

In an email to County students, the principal of the college said: “We understand that it is challenging to comply with lockdown restrictions; we all find it difficult, but socialising with students outside of your household bubble demonstrates a worrying lack of concern and respect for your own health and the impact of your behaviour on others.

“The restrictions on our liberties are in place to protect everyone from this dreadful virus. As we deal with the serious illness and death of family, friends and colleagues, this behaviour is unbelievably irresponsible… This behaviour feels like a kick in the teeth for my clinical colleagues [who are] working incredibly hard at the moment to look after their patients under really challenging conditions.

“For students who are following all the rules, I can assure you that the university takes these breaches of the COVID rules seriously and will deal with the students involved… Please don’t be tempted to hold parties or attend parties. It is irresponsible and will only contribute to a prolonging of the current restrictions.”

The party took place in one of the campus County townhouses

One student who lives on campus, Caroline, saw the party and said: “All we saw of it was a huge group of people running across North Drive – a bit later a police car and security pulled up and were walking around, and after they saw us peeking out the back window they came to speak to us and asked if we’d been to the party.

“They didn’t come into our townhouse, but they all stood on the porch with masks on. Since then, we have seen police and security at night going into houses and according to others asking for IDs to make sure people aren’t mixing households.”

When contacted by The Lancaster Tab, Lancaster University told us: “Throughout the pandemic we have been clear about national restrictions and how they apply to students and staff. In preparation for the Lent Term, we wrote to all students on Friday to remind them of their obligations under the current national lockdown. Our community has responded positively to those instructions but we continue to be vigilant and are working closely with the community police to reinforce the need to abide by regulations. The University will continue to take action against anyone who fails to comply with University and national rules.”

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