London police issue more than 50 Downing Street lockdown fines

London police have issued more than 50 fines as part of their investigation into lockdown breaches in Downing Street and Whitehall, higher than the 20 penalties the force had previously mentioned.

The Metropolitan Police gave no details on Tuesday of who had received a fixed-penalty notice.

The Met in January began investigating claims of multiple rule breaches for social gatherings in government and civil servant circles during Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. The force sent more than 100 questionnaires to those suspected of organising or attending rule-breaking events.

The force said on March 29 that it had started the process of issuing 20 fixed-penalty notices for lockdown rule breaches in Downing Street and Whitehall.

The investigation “continues to progress”, the force said on Tuesday. “We have made over 50 referrals for fixed penalty notices to the ACRO Criminal Records Office for breaches of Covid-19 regulations.”

The office would issue the penalty notices to individuals after the referral, the force said.

Those receiving a notice can either pay a fine or challenge it in the courts.

“We are making every effort to progress this investigation at speed,” the Met said. “This includes continuing to assess significant amounts of investigative material, from which further referrals may be made.”

There was no immediate comment from Downing Street on the announcement.