POLICE in Bolton have been forced to hand out hundreds more fixed penalty notice (FPN) fines for coronavirus breaches than other boroughs as house parties plague officers.

Superintendent Steph Parker has revealed 771 FPNs have been issued in the town since the start of the pandemic, with only Manchester city centre officers dishing out more in the metropolitan region.

Parties and large gatherings have consistently presented a problem to police since last March.

On Sunday, February 21, officers were sent to Hot Chilli Indian restaurant on Dunscar Business Park, off Blackburn Road, where more than 40 people were in attendance.

The event was quickly broken up and 37 FPNs were given to guests.

A Hot Chilli spokesman confirmed a private function was held there but that it was only supposed to be for six people from the same household.

The award-winning restaurant added the event organisers informed them on the day that it was a wedding but "claimed to have exceptional circumstances", which was not discussed in detail.

This breach of the government coronavirus rules, imposed to help reduce the spread of Covid-19, has become a regular situation for Bolton officers to contend with.

And police are now taking a tougher approach to blatant rule-breaking.

Supt Parker said: "The number of incidents we have had to deal with has been so high.

"We have issued 771 FPNs and only the City of Manchester Police have handed out more.

"We are way above other districts which have issued around 400 FPNs.

"The majority of the incidents we have been called to have been house parties.

"We are still taking the approach of the 4 Es (engage, explain, encourage and enforce) but we are dealing with breaches more robustly for the people of Bolton.

"This is about setting standards and what we expect people's behaviour to be like."

Greater Manchester deputy mayor, Baroness Bev Hughes, who leads on policing in the region, said house parties and large gatherings continue to take up police officers' time on shifts.

The number of FPNs handed out by Greater Manchester Police since last August is close to 4,000, Baroness Hughes added.