Boat owners get £30,000 fines for breaching lockdown regulations

BOAT owners organising raves on their boats on the Lee & Stort Navigation have been hit with £30,000 fines for breaching lockdown regulations.

Hertfordshire police discovered a vessel with 40 people on board at an illegal rave of a New Year's Even party on the Lee at Broxbourne and gave the organiser a £10,000 fine and confiscated all the sound equipment, a bar and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) canisters, Alan Tilbury reports.

Over 100 people

Also on the Lee, the police swooped on two more vessels dispersing over 100 people, arresting one man who refused to cooperate, the organisers each receiving a £10,000 fine.

On one boat the police boarded they seized four generators, four large speakers, two large amplifiers and a large quantity of alcohol.

Of the raids, Sergeant Chris Fisher warned:

"Even if we weren't living through a pandemic and under strict rules not to socialise in large groups to prevent coronavirus transmission, these party boats would be illegal, representing a grave danger to anyone who attends.

"They're dangerous for attendees, with no crowd control measures, medical staff or security provision on site."