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People Criticised After Gathering For Huge VE Day Street Parties

People Criticised After Gathering For Huge VE Day Street Parties

Residents in Middlesbrough, Plymouth and Portsmouth have all raised concerns about Government guidelines being ignored

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

People have been criticised for ignoring social distancing rules after pictures and videos emerged of huge VE Day street parties. One such street party, which took place in Middlesbrough, can be seen in the clip below:

The video shows neighbours dancing to music as they celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Allied Victory in Europe over the Nazis.

The footage was taken on Woodville Avenue in Grove Hill, Middlesborough, last night (8 May), with a shocked neighbour uploading it to Twitter.

Posting it online, the concerned resident tweeted Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston, saying: "This is Grove Hill, wonder why Teesside has such a high number of cases."

LADbible has contacted Cleveland Police for more information on the incident.

But this wasn't the only example of people across the UK flouting the government guidance to stay home during the nationwide lockdown.

Dozens gathered for a VE Day street party in Middlesbrough.
Facebook

The BBC covered a similar scene on a residential street in Cosham, near Portsmouth, where neighbours came out of their houses to mark the milestone.

While Sky News also broadcast footage from a road in Wimbledon, London, where dozens of residents came out and performed a rendition of Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again' while waving British flags.

Sharing the clip on Twitter, BBC Sport's presenter Dan Walker said he couldn't understand why people were flouting the advice that has been given by the Government and scientific experts.

He wrote: "Great song, beautifully sung but I am struggling to get my head around this. 31,241 people have died in the UK from a virus that thrives when we get too close to each other!"


There were also reports of people blocking Tavistock Road in Roborough, Plymouth, with one resident telling Plymouth Live they were concerned emergency services would not be able to get through in case of a medical crisis.

The anonymous resident said: "I walked down to get a delivery the other side of this lot as obviously they couldn't get through.

"I'm all for celebrating but who do they think they are to block off the only way into our street?

"It's also the thought of food deliveries for the vulnerable and the possibility of ambulances and fire engines being required too, it's not good."

This comes a week after police in Middlesbrough had to break up a barbecue and bingo party involving 20 to 25 people, reminding others that the Government's lockdown rules had not been relaxed in any way.

At around 3pm on Monday 4 May, several police units attended the scene at the junction of Marshall Avenue and Millbrook Avenue, Brambles Farm, where people had come together for a large street party.

Cleveland Police confirmed that around 20-25 people had been in the street having a party, with two men, both aged 20, arrested on suspicion of public order offences.

Chief Superintendent Thom McLoughlin, head of local policing at Cleveland Police, said: "The force has not relaxed the Government lockdown rules and we continue to patrol our four districts to ensure people are complying with the regulations.

"Let me be clear, we understand that this is a difficult time, but we must do what we can to protect loved ones and key workers who are risking their lives to save others.

"Where appropriate, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action in order to protect people within our communities and we have dedicated patrols on duty 24 hours a day to ensure that these regulations are complied with."

Featured Image Credit: Facebook

Topics: UK News, Interesting, Coronavirus