MORE than 15 fixed penalty notices were handed to businesses for breaching Covid regulations in the space of five months.

Sixteen businesses were handed notices across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole between October 1, 2020, and April 20, 2021.

Over this period the legislation changed on a number of occasions.

Breaches included matters such as lack of social distancing, offering takeaway services to customers when a restriction for this was in place, businesses being open when not permitted – including retail, fitness, beauty and vehicle businesses and customers inside premises when not permitted alongside other offences.

Councillor May Haines, portfolio holder for community safety said: “Throughout the pandemic, compliance with any legal restrictions that were imposed on businesses was very good with only a small number of breaches requiring some intervention.

“Businesses adapted quickly to the restrictions and where they were unsure, sought advice from the council’s Businesses Information Officers or Regulatory Services Team.

“While we appreciate that businesses went through some challenging times, the government’s restrictions were in place to protect the safety of the public as well as the staff and I’d like to thank everyone for their understanding during very testing times.”