Dispersal order set for Nottingham after 87 Covid-19 fines handed out in one weekend

Nottinghamshire police have introduced a 48-hour dispersal order in the city centre, Lenton and the Arboretum due to the vast amount of Covid-19 breaches at the weekend just past.

More than 80 people were fined in the city last weekend alone and as a result of this, Nottinghamshire police said that dispersal orders will be used “on an ongoing basis” at weekends.

Amongst those who were fined were seven people who had a gathering on a roof terrace on Derby Road on Saturday, and a house party on Bluecoat Close on Friday.

The new order is set to begin at 18:00 GMT on Friday, for Lenton and the Arboretum.

It allows officers to order people to leave the area if they are either breaching Covid-19 restrictions or being disruptive whilst repeat offenders could be arrested.

The first order was put in place on last Friday night after 23 incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported to the police.

The order proved to be effective as when active, the number of anti-social incidents reported dropped to 19 on Saturday and down to only nine on Sunday.

The ‘rule of six’ will return as of Monday (29th March) in England, meaning up to six people or two households will be allowed to gather outside or in private gardens. The order to stay at home will also end, but people are still encouraged to stay local.

When visiting friends in their private gardens, Government guidelines state that you can walk through their houses to access their garden and you can use their bathroom whilst you are there.

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