43 people gathered in house

Perth and Kinross police intercepted 43 people gathered together inside a house during the autumn, it has emerged.

The discovery was made as part of a Freedom of Information request by the Perthshire Advertiser to Police Scotland.

On November 6, the PA asked Police Scotland how many gatherings Perth and Kinross officers had intercepted since March.

But Police Scotland only began recording data specifically in respect of house gatherings from August 28, 2020.

The FOI response said:

“As I’m sure you will appreciate, there was simply no operational requirement for such functionality to be incorporated into our recording systems for the period prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the related legislation being introduced.”

As a result, the data reveals that from August 28 to November 6 Perth and Kinross police issued seven fines in relation to house gattherings.

Five fines were issued in September and two in October.

The largest number gathered at one place in Perth and Kinross during that time was 43.