Officers from Gedling Borough Council have secured a closure order on the Mustard Seed in Gedling following a number of breaches related to covid regulations.
The cafe on Main Road has today (November 20) been served with an order issued under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.
The order requires the business to close with immediate effect and failure to do so can result in imprisonment, a fine or both.
Anyone found entering the premises could also face a fine or imprisonment.
The order was served by Nottinghamshire Police.
The police action was ordered following a visit from council officers to the premises where it appears that the business was open and it had people inside the property, in clear violation of a prohibition order issued to them on Tuesday that stated they could only operate as a takeaway.
The business owner has repeatedly breached covid regulations set out by the government during the lockdown period, which have resulted in them being issued with fines totalling £17,000.
Following the latest intelligence that the business was breaching the regulations, the council’s Legal Team were granted a closure order from Mansfield Magistrates’ Court.
Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke said: “Following repeated breaches of the notices we served on the Mustard Seed, which clearly stated that they need to follow the guidance and regulations during lockdown, we have no option but to close it down.
“We have given the owner several chances to do the right thing and they’ve made the decision to ignore our message. Things are now so serious that they risk imprisonment, which nobody wants to see.
“Our priority has always been to protect our residents and to support the many businesses that have been affected so badly by this pandemic yet are following the rules.
“It is clear, that the owner believes that they do not need to adhere to the government guidelines and we are now in this position.
“We would urge people not to visit the premises, it is closed and we will be monitoring it closely.”
Inspector Chris Pearson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “We all need to play our part to help stop the spread of Coronavirus and keep our local communities safe.
“This closure order shows that no-one is above the law when it comes to that and, working with our partners, we will not hesitate to take action against businesses which persistently flout the regulations set by the Government, putting lives at risk and increasing the risk of the virus spreading.
“We all have an incredibly important responsibility to adhere to the rules to prevent the spread of this deadly disease.
“The vast majority of people are following the rules and we want to thank them for making those personal sacrifices.
“We will continue to work with our partners, including Gedling Borough Council, to tackle this virus and we are committed to ensuring communities are kept safe.”
Director for Public Health for Nottinghamshire, Jonathan Gribbin said: “I wholly support any action by partner organisations that will protect the health and wellbeing of people in Nottinghamshire.
“The national restrictions in place are there to protect everyone and there are many businesses who are remaining closed despite the challenges this poses for them.
“To those businesses who work hard to comply with the current restrictions, I want to offer my thanks. We owe them a debt of gratitude for the consideration they are giving to their local community, for setting aside their immediate interests and concerns in order to keep people safe and to protect our local NHS and care services. They provide a strong example to us all of what it means to serve your community.”
Excellent decision. Despite her puerile delusions, she is subject to the same laws as everyone else.
I quote..”Inspector Chris Pearson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “We all need to play our part to help stop the spread of Coronavirus and keep our local communities safe.”……so why the hell are you allowing Tescos everyday to allow hundreds of shoppers to enter the store with NO masks on? Just wondered.
Honestly, issuing an ‘Application’ against a Christian Café & Bookshop for an ASBO because the owners choose to stand behind Natural Law shows how desperate the system has become to use ‘force and intimidation’ to obtain compliance to obeying ‘unlawful’ government diktats.
Inspector Chris Pearson, of Nottinghamshire Police, appears to have gone completely rogue on the very people he is supposed to be protecting and serving. If police expect to maintain the trust and consent of the public to be the Citizens in Uniform, as described by Lord Sumption, former Supreme Court Judge, he and Nottinghamshire Police will need to decide which side of the fence they will stand. If they choose to stand against the people then their jobs will be made impossible when they lose the cooperation and trust of the people they are supposed to serve. I can assure him that does not bode well for the future for him or the service.
For him to be so blatantly attempting to misuse legal process to enforce optional rules, and not the Law, will not end well. I don’t know how close he is to pension age but perhaps he should be considering retiring his dinosaur brain and seeking alternative employment. Maybe he would be better suited working as an enforcer for the Mafia. He is certainly putting in lots of practice and appears to be very proud of doing it.
‘the mafia’ lol.
i’m not sure why we’re depicting a lockdown that will save lives as some sort of tyrannical defiance of the will of christ. p sure aquinas said preserving life is part of natural law.
this is so obviously just a front for pure selfishness. this has very little to do with ideology or religion; but is just motivated by a personal desire to go out and do stuff.
I totally agree with this observation. Sadly a small business such as Mustard Seed have none of the clout of a giant like Tesco. This is blatant hypocrisy -big corporations are the ones above the law.
What a load of poppy cock you wrote.
1. She was given enough chances
2. The police and council did the right thing as she would do as asked.
Well done to the police and council for doing the right thing.
She is a dissolutioned cult leader trying to brainwash folk with ill thought beliefs.
I support Mustard Seed 100%. The government have absolutely no right to enforce such clandestine measures on to a community of people who are neither ill nor vulnerable. A virus that has to be exaggerated and blown up out of all proportion and propped up by false and heavily doctored statistics fuelled by a comprehensively driven media campaign of fear mongering totally disproportionate to the actual reach and severity of the virus needs to be exposed and resisted and challenged by anyone who has any degree of intellectual or moral capacity.
We must follow the rules and regulations.
In this case it is for tge good and safety of the community.
If there is any reason to support that the law and rules is wrong then that must be challenged.
Mustard Seed should not act outside the law.