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Nine arrests at unauthorised gathering

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18:10 21/11/2020

Officers have arrested nine people and issued seven fines following a large unauthorised gathering in Basildon which breached the Government’s COVID-19 regulations.

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Our attempts to engage with people at the gathering and encourage them to do the right thing were, sadly, unsuccessful.

This meant we had to take enforcement action and, so far, nine people have been arrested and seven fines have been issued.

Fortunately no-one was seriously injured although some officers have reported being assaulted.

We have now dispersed the gathering but will maintain a visible presence in the area over the next 24 hours to reassure the public and ensure the gathering isn’t repeated.

Superintendent Bonnie Moore said: “This was a clear and blatant breach of the Government’s COVID-19 regulations and those who took part have risked their health and those of their loved ones through he spread of the virus.

“Our approach to the Government’s regulations has always been to try to engage with people, explain the regulations, and encourage them to do the right thing.

“Sadly, today that was not successful so we had to take enforcement action.

“A number of our officers involved today also reported being injured but, thankfully, their injuries are relatively minor.

“I know these are challenging times for everyone but we all have a responsibility to help keep each other safe.

“Having to deal with clear and blatant breaches of the regulations means having to take our officers away from dealing with other incidents and affects our ability to respond to other forms of crime.

“Most people across Essex are doing that and I thank you for it. It means we can spend more time doing what we do best – helping people, keeping people safe, and catching criminals.”

A dispersal order remains in place until 12.30am tomorrow for the town centre covering an area within the boundaries of Great Oaks and Southernhay as well as the Craylands testing facility at the junction with Churchill Avenue, and Basildon railway station.