Restaurant Bim’s Burgers on Ilford Lane in London was fined for serving food at 10.04pm. According to a new law pubs and businesses must close between 10pm and 5am. Police approached the business four minutes after closing time and discovered a customer had just been handed a burger.
The customer’s receipt read that the customer had parted money for the burger at 10.04 pm.
The owners of the restaurant said they transaction “was made in good faith”.
They said the new restrictions were “made thick and fast”.
The business owners added it was not “clear exactly how they should be interpreted”.
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“Our staff were under the impression that if an order was placed by 10pm it could still be served.
“The food took less than four minutes to arrive and he left at 10.04pm.
“Our staff were then shocked to be informed that they had breached the new laws by a matter of four minutes.
“New rules regarding Covid-19 are being made thick and fast and sometimes it isn’t clear exactly how they should be interpreted.”
The spokesperson added: “This was a very minor mistake.
“But, it was made in good faith.
“Under the circumstances we think it would have been reasonable for us to receive a verbal warning as opposed to a £1000 fine.
“Had we served a customer at 10.15 pm or even later then without a doubt this fine would have been fully justified.
“However, we will not be complaining about the police operation and our staff will obviously take greater care in the future to abide by the law.”
