Covid lockdown England: Students brawl in Nottingham park on first day of Rule of Six freedoms

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Shocking footage shows the moment students brawled in a sunny park and used bushes as toilets in a flagrant breach of lockdown restrictions.     

Large crowds gathered at the Arboretum in Nottingham city centre, where revellers enjoyed packs of beer in the warm weather on Monday afternoon.  

But a fight broke out among a group of revellers as onlookers crowded around – despite Boris Johnson warning Britons not to ‘risk the progress we’ve made’ as he said it was ‘vital’ to continue abiding by social distancing rules.

A dispersal order has now been put in place in the wake of the brawl, and the leader of Nottingham City Council has called for everyone to ‘take personal responsibility’ for sticking to rules as they are eased. 

Councillor David Mellen said a ‘selfish minority had abused the easing of restrictions’, and said alcohol will be seized from people entering parks from today.  

Video of the brawl also shows drink being thrown across the park as the students lock arms with one another. 

The mass gathering was seen on the first day of lockdown restrictions easing across the UK.

Groups of up to six people from different households or two full households are now able to meet outside, including private gardens. It is the first time in four months that groups of six are legally allowed to meet.  

One of the Brits in the Nottingham park said: ‘As long as everyone’s following the rules for Covid, it feels alright’.

Another added: ‘Everyone is feeling happy again, and that’s what’s important.’

Asked about the scenes, his friend added: ‘This is how it’s meant to be.’ 

Footage filmed of the mass gathering in the park shows many ignoring social distancing rules while others were seen not wearing face coverings.  

Leader of Nottingham City Council, councillor David Mellen slammed the behaviour as he said today: ‘We have all made sacrifices over the last year to keep each other safe. Over 600 local people have died due to the virus.

‘We owe it to their families, to each other and to frontline workers not to jeopardise the strides we have made towards reducing the spread of Covid by acting so thoughtlessly and recklessly.

‘The road map is a cautious way out of this terrible situation and we all need to abide strictly to its rules.

‘They currently allow up to six people or two households to meet outside but other necessary precautions such as social distancing remain in place.’

Alcohol will be seized from people entering parks from Tuesday, Mr Mellen said, amid an increased police presence. 

Nottinghamshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cooper said: ‘While we can of course understand people’s desire to want to be out in the sun and enjoying these mild temperatures we are currently experiencing, the Government and our health colleagues remain extremely cautious and advise that people continue to minimise social contact.

‘We would like to remind people that we are still only partly out of lockdown measures.

‘This week has seen the easing of some of the restrictions but we are still required to keep our distance from each other and only mix with one other household outdoors, up to six people.

‘We are aware of a number of residents choosing to be out in the Arboretum. 

‘The behaviour yesterday was unacceptable and we are disappointed people decided to behave in this selfish way. That is why we have now taken the decision to put a dispersal order in place.

‘Our officers will continue to engage with people to ensure they are still sticking to the rules. It is up to us all to keep to the measures so we can continue on the road map out of lockdown, by keeping the virus at bay.’

The revellers also left behind piles of rubbish and empty cans, bottles and boxes on the grass, while others were seen using the park as a toilet after their day of drinking outside in the sunshine. 

One man was seen climbing a tree and testing the strength of the branches as a group of mates watched on from below.   

The scenes come as Boris Johnson warned Britons, ‘don’t risk the progress we’ve made’ as he said it was ‘vital’ to continue abiding by social distancing rules, as police vowed to continue cracking down on large gatherings. 

This comes as almost 55 per cent of people in England now have Covid antibodies, suggesting at least half of the population now has some immunity against the disease.

A major Office for National Statistics (ONS) testing survey today revealed 54.7 per cent of people in England had the virus-fighting proteins in the week ending March 14, up from 50.8 per cent the week prior.

The figure is likely to be even higher now because millions more have been vaccinated since the blood tests were conducted a fortnight ago, and it takes about two weeks for immunity to kick in.

It highlights the success of the country’s mammoth vaccine roll-out, which has seen 30.5million Brits given their first dose and 3.7m fully vaccinated.

Boris Johnson is now facing demands to lift lockdown faster, with Covid cases, hospitalisations and deaths having fallen to their lowest level for six months. People in England have to wait at least another seven weeks before pubs, restaurants and hotels can fully reopen and allow customers inside. Foreign holidays are also banned until at least May 17.

One Tory MP told MailOnline the PM must bring forward the arbitrary dates in order to ‘maintain public confidence that we are getting our freedom as soon as possible’. Steve Baker, of the Covid Recovery Group, called on No10 to ask SAGE to see whether the relaxation of restrictions could be safely brought forward.