Just came across this and it embarrasses me to admit this is my home town....not that I know any of those involved as far as I'm aware.
Quote:
Twelve members of a football team have been fined after claiming they were from the same household while drinking in a pub.
They were in the Wouldhave in South Shields, South Tyneside, when staff members challenged them after seeing their football kit under their jackets, said pub chain JD Wetherspoon.
Northumbria Police said the member of staff reported a breach of the coronavirus regulations, and officers arrived at the pub. The group was fined £200 each, which will be halved if it is paid within a fortnight.
Ch Supt Janice Hutton of Northumbria Police, said: "This group showed a flagrant disregard for the rules which are in place to help prevent the spread of coronavirus."
The Wetherspoon spokesman said the group had been asked if they were from the same household and that they had said yes.
But player Josh Robertson, one of the those who was fined, denied that version of events.
He told the PA news agency: "They didn't ask if we lived in the same house. Why would 12 lads say we lived in the same house?"
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