Covid: York 10pm curfew crowds 'disappointing'

Scenes of people singing and dancing in the street after leaving bars due to the 22:00 curfew was "inevitable", according to a public health official.

Video showing the crowd, of largely young people, ignoring social distancing rules in York on Saturday was widely shared on social media.

The group was eventually dispersed by police without any arrests.

York's assistant director of public health, Fiona Philips, said the scenes were "really disappointing".

Especially, she said, after the work venue owners had done to ensure their premises were Covid-secure.

"It's really disappointing for everybody and it does make us worry about what the future holds," she added.

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Przemek Wisniewicz, from Drakes Fisheries, said he believed there were about 50 to 100 people gathered at the junction of Church Street and Swinegate.

"They were singing and being all cheerful and not causing any trouble at all to be fair," he said.

Revellers sang and danced till the police dispersed them

Nicola Hunter, who runs a pub in the city, said she was not surprised by the scenes.

"They don't understand, well they do understand what is going to happen, but everybody is getting quite desperate aren't they.

"It's awful to see because ultimately we are all going to get locked down again aren't we?"

Ms Phillips agreed the scenes would worry venue owners.

"With every venue closing at 10 it was inevitable in some way," she said.

"If we see a rise of coronavirus linked to this kind of activity then steps would need to be taken, and that's the really disappointing thing for those business owners who they themselves have done so much to keep their venues open," she said.

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