York barbershop shut down over Covid breaches after ‘numerous’ complaints from residents

A York barbershop which has already been fined for Covid breaches has now been shut down by the council.

Q Gentlemens Barbers at 31 Bishopthorpe Road has been served with an order to close from today ‘to enable the premises to put in the necessary measures to keep people safe’.

It had previously been fined six times – totalling £9,000 – after the council said it had been operating during lockdown.

Matt Boxall, head of public protection, said: “Following a number of complaints from residents regarding the operations of Q Gentlemens Barbers at 31 Bishopthorpe Road, York, City of York Council have carried out numerous site visits to check on Covid-safety measures, provide advice to the business and, when it wasn’t taken, issued warnings.

“Regretfully, numerous further complaints have since been received.”

As a result the barbers and its two directors, Ryan Cross and Dylan Bell, have been directed to close from 6pm tonight (13 May) to 6pm on 20 May to allow the safety measures to be installed.

The order was made under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England)(No.3) Regulations 2020.

Mr Boxall said: “This isn’t a step we wanted to take but is necessary to keep people safe and also be fair to the businesses who have gone to great lengths to make their places Covid safe.

“We will continue to offer support and guidance to the business to help them open up and keep customers safe.

“People and businesses have made huge sacrifices this year and this instance is not a reflection of the wider efforts.

“We want to say thank you, our collective efforts have meant we can move to the next step of the roadmap and they have saved lives. Whilst the vaccine roll out gives us hope we can’t afford to be complacent.

“Our thanks go to the public for reporting breaches.”

People can share their concerns by contacting the council at [email protected] or phoning 01904 551525.