Coronavirus: Bowls club among six Carmarthenshire venues shut

Bowling club members held a presentation evening last week

A bowling club is among six venues in Carmarthenshire ordered to close its doors after flouting coronavirus restrictions.

The Pembrey and Burry Port Bowls club must shut for 14 days after holding an evening event.

It joins the Drefach Cricket and Football club, where a spate of covid cases followed a sports awards night.

Four more venues have also been ordered to close by the county council in a bid to "keep communities safe".

The Infinity Bar in Carmarthen has been told to shut its doors for seven days, and 48-hour closures notices have been served on the Railway Hotel in Ammanford, the Ammanford and District Miners' Welfare Club and the Golden Lion Hotel in Carmarthen.

"We are disappointed to see a number of premises failing to take their responsibilities seriously," said Philip Hughes, Carmarthenshire council's executive board member for public protection.

"Only in the worst cases we have taken immediate action to close them down for the protection of our communities."

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Between 60 and 80 people attended the sports awards evening at Drefach on 29 August

The bowls clubs had already been shut by the Burry Port Town Council, which manages the facility, following a presentation evening by the club on 5 September that sparked enforcement action.

In a statement, the town council said it was "deeply disappointed" by the event, stressing it had no involvement.

The move came after another evening of awards at the end of August, 10 miles away at the Drefach club.

It led to at least 14 people being infected with coronavirus.

"Our visits will continue to take place in towns and rural areas and we urge businesses to ensure the correct procedures are in place and properly managed to avoid action being taken," added Mr Hughes.

"Serving a closure notice is always a last resort - we would much rather turn up at a premises and see them operating safely - but where we have serious concerns, we will not hesitate to put safety first."