Police said earlier today they had penalised the publicans who served free drinks on Remembrance Sunday for breaching Covid regulations – but they haven’t removed their licence.
Now they say they have cancelled the fine too but added no further details as to why.
This afternoon North Yorkshire Police and City of York Council issued a joint statement about their actions at the Grey Horse in Elvington.
It follows YorkMix breaking the news that publicans Nigel Cookson and his partner Jo Cashon said they had to leave the pub because “York police licensing is stripping Jo of her DPS (Designated Premises Supervisor) licence”.
Police say the investigation is continuing.
Meanwhile a petition to keep the couple at the Grey Horse has reached 500 signatures.
The statement in full
Statement from North Yorkshire Police and City of York Council in response to the breach of Covid regulations at The Grey Horse pub, Main Street, Elvington, York, on Remembrance Sunday (8 November 2020), just before 2pm.
The Covid Regulations are in place to protect the public.
On this occasion – around three hours after a low-key Remembrance Sunday wreath laying within the village during which the parish council encouraged residents to participate in the Royal British Legion doorstep two minute silenceto discourage physical gathering due to Covid-19 – there was a report of a gathering in the beer garden and smoking area of a licensed premises with people consuming alcohol from wine and beer glasses.
The attending officers established that the group were from different households, they were not socially distanced and none of them were wearing face masks or face coverings to mitigate the risk of infection from coronavirus.
Those present left the licensed premises without any further action being taken after the officers engaged with them, explained the current restrictions and encouraged them to leave.
However, due to the circumstances of the incident, a person in control of the premises was issued with a Penalty Notice for Covid-19 for breaching the regulations.
At 5;15pm they updated the statement to say this fine had now been cancelled.
The original statement went on..
An investigation into the matter is ongoing by North Yorkshire Police’s licensing department and City of York Council’s Public Protection services. The police and council are working with the premises’ licence holders.
The license has not been revoked. A revocation of a premises licence or personal licence would be determined by the licensing sub-committee if any review proceedings were brought before them.
As stated continuously throughout the multi-agency response to the pandemic, the use of enforcement is always the last resort.