Police break up house party in Burnley where revellers were still going at 7.50am

Officers in Burnley were called to a property in Venice Avenue after receiving reports that a number of people were partying and breaching the current lockdown restrictions.

Inspector Chris Valentine said people at the party, who were clearly drunk, dismissed Covid-19 as being 'made-up', and felt no remorse for hosting the party despite being parents to two teenagers.

Insp Valentine said: "The people at the party, in their drunken stupor, claimed that Covid was made up and didn’t seem to mind having a house full of people despite having two teenage children themselves.

"Only this week a friend of mine tested positive for Covid.

"He’s been following the guidelines but unfortunately the job he does places him at higher risk of infection.

"At the time of the test he didn’t have any symptoms himself.

"However, his daughter had a slight temperature so the whole family went for a test.

"Three of them tested positive.

"A few days after the test he’s now suffering with the full symptoms and they’re all isolating at home.

"With the bank holiday approaching and a certain Burnley town centre licensed premises being referred for the second time to the Licensing Department for social distancing breaches, it worries me about keeping my own family, my team and the people of East Lancashire safe.

"People have become too blasé about things.

"Just because Covid isn’t always fatal doesn’t mean we can ignore it.

"I just cannot understand anyone who would risk infecting themselves or the people they care about.

"Take the people at the house party for example.

"As a parent I do everything humanly possible to protect my son and hate seeing him when he’s ill no matter how serious it is.

"Why would anyone deliberately expose their family to disease for the sake of having a few drinks?

"The guidelines are there for a reason so please let’s all take some responsibility and do our bit.

"I can’t make decisions for you so please act responsibly."

Insp Valentine said his team were working for the remainder of the Bank Holiday weekend and if people were adamant about going out they should act responsibly, but warned them not to be surprised if they received a fine when found to be in breach of the regulations.

He added: "Just remember, every Covid breach we have to deploy to is a completely avoidable situation and stops us from patrolling areas that are suffering from crime.

"Trust me when I say we’d much rather be out looking for burglars and thieves than putting our personal safety at risk breaking up irresponsible people who can’t resist cramming as many people as possible in to their front room just to drink cheap lager and exchange the air they breathe for hours on end.

"Ours numbers are stretched at the best of times and Covid just adds more pressure.

"If everyone did their bit and encouraged the people they know to follow the rules this will be over much quicker and the police will have more time to spend helping people who genuinely need us."