Bar in Blackburn shut down for breaking social distancing rules

Bar Life on Northgate was visited on Saturday, September 5th and officers observed crowded conditions with no social distancing, dancing and people sitting very close together.

Dancing is not allowed under the current restrictions and customers at bars must keep a social distance from other people not in their immediate bubble.

The closure takes effect from 9am on Friday, September 11th and is in place for one month; it will be reviewed every seven days. If the premises can show they are Covid-19 safe and can follow the guidelines fully they can be re-opened. The venues can appeal to the Magistrates’ court if they wish.

The closure formed part of a wider piece of work by Public Protection which has seen four closures and three lesser restrictions. There have been 19 Community Protection Warnings issued, which are written warnings for COVID-19 breaches, and seven prohibition notices for premises which were breaching closure rules.

Councillor Phil Riley, Executive member for Growth and Development, said:

"This sort of behaviour is really inexcusable. The restrictions and guidelines are clear for pubs and bars, and there seems to have been no attempt to follow them here.

"This puts customers and staff in danger as it increases the risk of spreading Covid which is increasing across the country among young people in particular. The police officers and Public Protection officers are put at risk as well during these visits if there are too many people in a bar and very little social distancing.

"We want our businesses to stay open and for life to carry on in as normal a way as possible, but this will not be able to happen if people do not follow the rules. We all need to help each other to bring our numbers down and keep each other safe.”