Merseyside gym fined for ignoring Tier 3 rules and refusing to close to save the business

Police have fined a gym owner who refused to close his business on the first day of Tier 3 restrictions in Merseyside.

A gym based in Wirral is the first to be fined after failing to comply with the tough new Tier 3 restrictions.

Liverpool City Region was placed in Tier 3 earlier this week, which sees the closure of gyms, leisure centres, betting shops and casinos from yesterday, Wednesday October 14th. 

However, owner of Body Tech Fitness in Moreton, Nick Whitcombe defied the new rules, keeping his gym open because there ‘won’t [be a gym] to come back to’ if he didn’t. 

A video of police standing guard among gym members using the equipment has been shared widely on social media. 

Body Tech Fitness is one of two gyms in the Wirral that said they would stay open despite the new rules.

Mr Whitcombe shared a video on Instagram where he said: “We have just received our first £1,000 fine at Body Tech.

“After meeting with the police yesterday, they told us we would get a warning first day, then a second warning, £100 fine, £200 fine and so on.

“They were with us this morning gave us our warning, came back this afternoon. Orders from their top boss to issue a fine straight away.

“They’ve told us close immediately or face a £1,000 fine. Obviously, we still had quite a lot of members training and I said to the officers, ‘I’m not asking anyone to leave. Even if I am I’m going to let them finish their sessions first.

“So they’ve issued the fine. First one is £1,000, they can come back in three hours issue £2,000, three hours after that £4,000.”

In a previous video where Mr Whitcombe announced his refusal to close the gym, he said: “If we close our facility we won’t have one to come back to. We will not have a gym to come back to.

“There will be no business, there will be no gym, there will be no jobs.”

He explained that gyms are vital for ‘our physical and mental health’, adding: “Keep fighting the good fight. The gyms need to stay open.”

A petition with over 100,000 signatures has raised £28,800 on a Crowdfunding page to ‘save the gyms’ in the North West.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Mr Whitcombe said that the police were ‘fair and polite’.

He added: “I appreciate that they’re only doing their job and we treated them with equal respect as I’m sure the sergeant will confirm.”

Chief Superintendent Claire Richards said: “We understand that people are frustrated with the current situation and for a number of local businesses, including the fitness and leisure industry, this will be particularly hard.

“It’s not that long ago that gyms reopened their doors after lockdown and they did so after making huge changes to the way they work for the safety and protection of their customers.

“But while this lockdown does present huge challenges, the focus of us all should now be on preventing the spread of the virus and getting us back to normality as safely and as quickly as possible.

“The new restrictions have been brought in to try to achieve that, and if we don’t act decisively and collaboratively, the impact could be harder and last even longer.

“We will therefore continue to encourage members of the public and businesses to adhere to the guidance, explain why they should and – as in this case – use enforcement where there are clear breaches of legislation.”