THE landlord of a Taunton pub has been hit with a £1,000 fixed penalty notice for failing to close at 10pm.

Police raided the Racehorse Inn, in East Reach, at around 10.50pm on Saturday night (October 24) following a report it was breaching Covid-19 regulations.

On arrival they found approximately 25 people inside with a member of staff in the process of serving a man drinks.

A group of around 15 people, none of who were wearing face coverings, were also dancing together on the dance floor.

PC Gary Pethick said: “The coronavirus legislation is in place to save lives and stop the spread of this dangerous virus.

“We can’t allow the selfish actions of a few to ruin everything the overwhelming majority continue to work hard to achieve.

“The licensee may well have been apologetic after being caught breaching the rules, but by then it’s too late.”

He added: “We continue to take the same approach as we have done throughout the pandemic of engaging with people, explaining the restrictions in place and encouraging them to comply.

"But when people are knowingly and wilfully breaching the regulations we will move more quickly to enforcement by issuing a fine.”