SIX Men in Marlborough have all been fined £200 after police caught them drinking alcohol and playing music around a campfire.

They were caught on Sunday after officers attended Three Corner Field off the London Road following reports from members of the public about a group of men socialising.

They found the six men, all aged in their 20s, who had set up a campfire and were drinking alcohol and playing music. This was against the current national lockdown restrictions and all six were issued with £200 fines.

Meanwhile, police are reminding people about the small changes to the Covid-19 restrictions as England reaches its first milestone in the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown.

Today children have returned to school and people are now allowed to leave their home for recreational reasons, as well as exercise.

You can spend time in outdoor public spaces for recreation on your own, with your household or support bubble, or with one other person. This means you can sit down for a drink or picnic. But you must continue to maintain social distance from those outside your household.

Also, the rules on visiting care homes have changed to allow regular indoor visits for a single named visitor.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: “I know that today’s small changes to the restrictions will be welcomed by many, particularly families who will have waved their children off to school this morning.

“We know how important education is, and today’s reopening of the school sites for all pupils, is a significant milestone in our ongoing battle against Covid-19.

“However, we would like to remind people that the Stay At Home messaging remains in place and that if we want to keep the infection rate down we need to continue to remain sensible and cautious.”The latest figures show that between March 1 and 7, Wiltshire Police issued 34 fixed penalty notices. This brings the overall total to 731 (this will include FPNs issued retrospectively).

They issued 59 formal warnings to people for failing to adhere to the Government rules, recorded 282 reports from members of the public, either via the phone or using the online reporting tool, and recorded two Covid-related crimes and 19 Covid-related incidents.

Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson added: “This week’s figures from Wiltshire Police show a drop in reports, warnings and FPNs, which suggests that our message around lockdown not yet being over seems to have been taken on board by our communities.

“I know that the current situation remains difficult for so many people, but today’s milestone shows that we are on the right track and that if we all work together we will hopefully see a continuation of restrictions being lifted over the coming weeks and months.”

For a full update on the changes to the Government’s lockdown restrictions please visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus

You can also read Wiltshire Police's latest Covid summary report, which covers the period between January 27 and February 24, at summary_overview_covid19_fpns_27-january-24-february-2021.pdf (wiltshire.police.uk)