Edinburgh police raid 30-person Halloween house party in New Town

In Edinburgh, police were called to a report of a house gathering in the New Town area of the city in the early hours of Sunday, November 1.

Officers found thirty students inside the property, all of whom received fixed penalty notices (FPNs).

The news comes as Police Scotland revealed today that its officers dealt with more than 300 house gatherings over the weekend as people celebrated Halloween.

The force added that the vast majority of callouts were to gatherings of small groups of people in private houses.

In Edinburgh, police were called to a report of a house gathering in the New Town area of the city in the early hours of Sunday, November 1. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP)

More than 300 FPNs were issued between Friday, October 30 and Sunday, November 1, and 24 people were arrested.

Police Scotland said the majority of FPNs issued were to small groups from different households meeting in homes.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: “Officers dealt with a significant number of calls to house gatherings over the weekend and we have been quite clear that we will enforce the law where necessary, as the public would expect us to do.

“The vast majority were smaller groups of different households meeting indoors.

“House gatherings of any size cause the virus to spread and we are asking people to do the right thing and take personal responsibility.

“I fully understand the implications the current restrictions have on our daily lives, but we cannot have people twisting the rules and disregarding the law which is there to stop the spread of coronavirus and help save lives.

“Anyone clearly breaking the law should be in no doubt that they will be met with a robust response from Police Scotland.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.