Police break up more than 300 house parties across weekend

Police were called to break up more than 300 house parties across Scotland during Halloween weekend.

Twenty-four people were arrested and more than 300 fines were issued between Friday and Sunday.

Police Scotland said the vast majority of fines issued were to small groups from different households meeting in homes in clear breach of the regulations in place to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

However, officers also dealt with several large-scale parties throughout the country.

In one incident, around 100 people were gathered at a rented property in Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire.

Police attended the property just after midnight on Saturday and found a 48-seater party bus and several cars parked outside.

A 46-year-old man was charged with a breach of coronavirus regulations and issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN).

The organiser of the party, a 33-year-old man, was charged with culpable and reckless conduct. He is expected to appear at Falkirk Sheriff Court on Friday, November 27.

The bus driver was also issued with a FPN and inquiries to establish if any further offences occurred are under way.

In the early hours of Sunday, police were called to a report of a house gathering in the New Town area of Edinburgh.

Thirty students were found to be within a property and all received FPNs.

While in Glasgow, officers issued 64 fines and charged a 26-year-old man with culpable and reckless conduct after being called to reports of an illegal Halloween party at a warehouse in Hyde Park Street around 5.30pm on Sunday.

Officers who attended noticed many people were not wearing masks and no physical distancing was in place.

Between Friday and Sunday, more than 3000 calls relating to nuisance, noise and disturbance were made to Police Scotland.

Assistant chief constable Alan Speirs said: “Officers dealt with a significant number of calls to house gatherings over the weekend and we have been quite clear that we will enforce the law where necessary, as the public would expect us to do.

“We are not just talking about large parties. The vast majority were smaller groups of different households meeting indoors.

“House gatherings of any size cause the virus to spread and we are asking people to do the right thing and take personal responsibility.

“I fully understand the implications the current restrictions have on our daily lives, but we cannot have people twisting the rules and disregarding the law which is there to stop the spread of coronavirus and help save lives.

“Anyone clearly breaking the law should be in no doubt that they will be met with a robust response from Police Scotland.”