University of Essex students fined over Covid breaches

Essex Police said it fined 32 students at the University of Essex's Colchester campus after patrols were stepped up

More than 30 University of Essex students have been fined for breaching Covid-19 regulations over the weekend.

Essex Police said it fined 32 people at the Colchester campus after patrols were stepped up "to target those persistently flouting the law".

It said it attended two house parties and found other groups congregating in a car park and a courtyard.

The university said it has "made clear" all students must comply with regulations and "almost all" were.

The force said it was "working closely" with the university to support them in making sure students follow the current restrictions around the rule of six and "the majority have listened".

It said it decided to increase patrols after "a small minority continued to break the rules".

'Flout the rules'

On Friday night, officers found seven people congregating in a university car park and on Saturday evening police were called to two house parties in Albany Road, both of which had eight people inside.

Also on Saturday, officers found nine students in a courtyard.

All those breaching regulations were issued with £200 fixed penalty notices.

Ch Insp Rob Huddleston said the force's approach was "always to explain and engage" in the first instance but "where people do not listen to us and selfishly flout the rules repeatedly" enforcement action is taken.

"We don't want to ruin anyone's fun, but we all have a legal and ethical responsibility to stop the spread of the virus, protect each other, our communities and the NHS," he said.

The university's director of external relations, Vanessa Potter, said: "At this challenging time, we have made clear that all students must comply with Covid regulations, and we are really proud that they are almost all taking this seriously and doing so.

"We were made aware of a few who were not and so we asked the police to support us in managing these cases."

The university said it is still investigating a video that emerged last week of what appeared to be an illegal student party allegedly filmed at the campus.