A group of 10 who rented an apartment in Greenhithe to have a 'blowout' party have all been fined.

The six men and four women were among 74 people who were issued fines for breaching Covid-19 regulations across Kent over the weekend.

Kent Police officers were called to a property in the Boulevard, Greenhithe, at around 10pm on Saturday, February 13.

Responding to reports of a party, officers showed up and found 10 people inside an apartment.

They told the patrol they had rented the apartment out so they could have a "blowout."

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All 10 were issued with Covid fines.

In total, 165 people were issued with fines across the county, bringing Kent's total up to 419 in February alone, and 1,392 since the beginning of the year.

Also fined was a motorist who was stopped with his friends from separate households in Chatham at 2am on Monday, with no one wearing masks and the driver on his way to his address.

Three women and two men received fines for hosting a house part in Dover on Sunday, whilst four men were also issued with fines after officers stopped their car in Wainscott on Friday night and found out they were all from different households.

Assistant Chief Constable Claire Nix said: "The vast majority of people in the county continue to do the right thing and make substantial personal sacrifices by following the regulations.

"Their efforts are undoubtedly saving lives and preventing the NHS from being overwhelmed.

"It is not yet time to act like lockdown restrictions have been lifted and we will take action against those who continue to ignore the regulations and behave selfishly.

"Whilst I understand that people simply want to socialise, if everyone breached the restrictions, we could find ourselves in a dire situation."

She added: "I would ask people to think carefully about their behaviour, just popping round a friends house or having a small family party, may not seem problematic but the knock on effect can be devastating.

"Ask yourself how you would feel if you became responsible for spreading the virus to someone who became seriously ill or even lost their life. Following the regulations is the best possible way to be a good citizen and care for others."