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Coronavirus: Gym owner fined £1,000 after refusing to close

Owner Nick Whitcombe says he is flouting rules ‘not...for financial gain but for members’ mental and physical well-being’

Tom Batchelor
Thursday 15 October 2020 19:08 BST
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Coronavirus in numbers

A gym owner in Merseyside has been fined £1,000 after refusing to close as Tier 3 restrictions were introduced in the region.

Body Tech Fitness in Moreton, Wirral, was visited twice by police officers on Wednesday as the new measures, which include the closure of gyms, came into force.

Owner Nick Whitcombe said he was flouting the rules “not...for financial gain but more for our members’ mental and physical well-being”.

Merseyside Police said officers were called to the gym on Pasture Road at 8.35am on Wednesday after a report from a member of the public that it was contravening new legislation.

Officers ordered the gym to close but when they returned later that day and it was still open, the owner was issued with a fixed penalty notice ordering him to pay a £1,000 fine.

“We stand united. Liverpool is united,” read a post on the gym’s Instagram page. “We are supported by our people, our council, our police, these orders come from the south and NOT ONE representative of Liverpool agreed to this.”

Mr Whitcombe contacted his local MP, Labour’s Angela Eagle, who expressed her support for gyms to reopen as soon as possible.

A Gofundme page set up to help the gym with any legal costs has raised more than £24,000 while a petition calling for the government to prevent gyms closing as a measure to stop the spread of Covid-19 has been signed by more than 131,000 people.

Chief Superintendent Claire Richards said: “We understand that people are frustrated with the current situation and for a number of local businesses, including the fitness and leisure industry, this will be particularly hard.

”It's not that long ago that gyms reopened their doors after lockdown and they did so after making huge changes to the way they work for the safety and protection of their customers.

“But while this lockdown does present huge challenges, the focus of us all should now be on preventing the spread of the virus and getting us back to normality as safely and as quickly as possible.

”The new restrictions have been brought in to try to achieve that, and if we don't act decisively and collaboratively, the impact could be harder and last even longer.

“We will therefore continue to encourage members of the public and businesses to adhere to the guidance, explain why they should and - as in this case - use enforcement where there are clear breaches of legislation.”

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