Police broke up an illegal party at a bar and fined everybody present £200.

Mint Club in Hoe Street, Walthamstow, was already under police scrutiny after an event with around 200 people was discovered at the venue on August 30.

Police and council officers noticed lights on inside the locked and shuttered venue shortly before 9pm on Sunday (November 22).

Officers, who arrived at 8.50pm, were unable to enter the venue for 20 minutes, when they found around 20 people in two rooms and evidence of shisha smoking.

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The entrance was shuttered and locked but police and council officers could see lights inside the venue and smell shisha coming from inside.

A spokesperson confirmed Waltham Forest Council is “considering further formal action” but was unable to provide further details.

On October 30, a council spokesperson said the council had only had to issue eight fines to businesses breaching Covid rules since March.

Many of these fines were over a lack of protective equipment for workers in close contact with the public, such as barbers.

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