At the weekend, several fines were issued to people attending house parties in Hatfield.

On Saturday, overnight officers issued 10 COVID-19 fixed penalty notices to attendees at another house party, this time being held at an address on Dragon Road.

The occupants of this address and other attendees are students at the Uni of Herts, according to police, who sent their names to the Hatfield-based institution.

The University Policing Team will follow up with disciplinary meetings.

Welwyn Hatfield Police said on Facebook: "This is unbelievably selfish behaviour and we will continue attending and issuing FPNs."

Another large gathering also took place on Daisy Drive with police issuing seven COVID-19 fines on Sunday following reports of a gathering at an address.

The police want to highlight that this was not an address linked to the university or students. And added that officers will continue responding to any COVID breach reports and issuing fines where applicable.

And today after stopping a vehicle with no insurance, a driver was reported for the offence of Driving Without Insurance and the vehicle was seized.

Three people that were inside the vehicle were all from different households meeting socially, having just been to a birthday party.

Welwyn Hatfield Police said: "Fines have been issued to the driver and passengers for breaching the Health Protection Regulations.

"The regulations haven't changed - social gatherings are not permitted - enforcement will be carried out where breaches occur."

There were almost seven times more fines given out in Welwyn Hatfield than in Stevenage for breaking COVID-19 rules last year.

Between July 1 2020 and January 6 2021, there were 47 fixed penalty notices handed out in Welwyn Hatfield to people who broke the rules, compared to only seven in Stevenage and three in St Albans.

Fixed penalty notices (FPNs) can be awarded by police if you have broken lockdown rules.

Welwyn Hatfield also saw a significantly higher number of warnings issued without fines than Stevenage and St Albans.

There were 228 warnings issued for COVID-19 rule violations in Welwyn Hatfield, more Stevenage and St Albans combined, who had 88 and 67 respectively.