Coronavirus: Gym owner faces £67,000 in fines after refusing to close during lockdown

'It felt like the right thing to do socially, morally and scientifically,' says Andreas Mishli

Andreas Mishli, owner of Zone Gym in North London (Screengrab / Facebook)

A gym owner has been hit with £67,000 in fines after refusing to close the facility during the current coronavirus lockdown.

Andreas Mishli only shut Zone Gym in Wood Green, London, on Wednesday after the police stationed two permanent officers outside the premises.

The 34-year-old will now have to cough up the money to Haringey Council or face being prosecuted before a court.

Mr Mishli, who has owned the gym for five years, said: "There were a lot of reasons why I didn't close. I couldn't actually find a reason why to not keep it open, other than there was legislation in place.

"It felt like the right thing to do socially, morally and scientifically."

On top of the £67,000 in fines, he added that the council was also seeking a further £7,500 for court costs.

Gyms are included in the list of venues that must close under the national coronavirus lockdown which came into effect on 5 November in England and will run until 2 December.

Speaking of his decision to finally shut, Mr Mishli said: "The police were manned outside the gates and they were rotating shifts every two hours.

"It was a bit of a pointless thing to do keeping the gym open while it was basically empty.

"A few people managed to climb over walls and shift through little gaps to get in, but it was pretty much empty."

Joseph Ejiofor, leader of Haringey Council, said officials had repeatedly tried to "communicate" with Mr Mishli, who "unfortunately decided to remain open despite repeated warnings".

He said: "As a result, we were left with no choice but to issue fixed penalty notices and have obtained a closure notice…

“The law is the law and it applies to everyone".