ALMOST 250 fines have been issued for Covid breaches across County Durham – including to four teenagers who were drinking together in Durham City.

Three men and one woman, all aged in their late teens, were given fixed penalty notices after they were found together in a house in the city centre earlier this month.

In the same week, two 45-year-old men and a woman in her early 20s were given fixed penalty notices after they were found at a house in the South Moor area of Stanley.

And Chester-le-Street police have summonsed a man to court for Covid breaches and anti-social behaviour offences. He was found with a number of people in a house in the Grange Villa area, when officers attended the property on Sunday night to execute a warrant on other criminal matters.

From penalties being introduced for those failing to stick to coronavirus regulations until the week beginning October 5, Durham police had issued 248 fixed penalty notices.

Superintendent Steve Long said: “Our approach throughout the pandemic has been to help the public follow the regulations by engaging, explaining and encouraging, and only turning to enforcement as last resort.

“We know the majority of people are doing their best to stick to the rules and follow the regulations to reduce the spread of Covid-19 and save lives.

“A small minority, however, are not and they should expect to have enforcement action taken against them.”