British police has fined at least 70 people for breaking coronavirus restrictions after officers found 150 people packed into an illegal nightclub in England at the weekend.
Officers who forced their way into a building in the city of Birmingham on Saturday night discovered the makeshift club with a bar, VIP area and a dance floor with a DJ, West Midlands Police said.
About 150 people occupied two floors of the building, the police said.
A police video taken with drones showed people trying to flee from the rooftop early on Sunday.
Police said that dozens of people managed to get away but about 70 were given £200 ($278) fines. The DJ could face a £10,000 fine.
West Midlands Police on Saturday also discovered a garage workshop nearby that had been turned into a mini pub, with a sign on the wall calling it The Covid Arms.
About a dozen drinkers were allowed to leave but the owner was fined.
The department urged people to remember that England was in lockdown and that the virus was still a threat despite the progress of the UK’s vaccine programme.
