Businesses offering beauty treatments at home during lockdown are being warned they face fines, prosecution and possible police action after a rise in the number of reports of such work taking place despite the Covid-19 restrictions.
Officers from Leicester City Council’s regulatory services team are investigating 13 separate reports of beauty businesses providing treatment at home, which is against the law under current lockdown measures.
Customers receiving such services can be fined £1,000, as well as the businesses themselves.
So far, five businesses have been given formal warning letters, with one issued a £1,000 fixed penalty notice. Two more beauty businesses have been fined by Leicestershire Police.
The city council’s regulatory services team has made more than 2,500 visits to businesses across the city throughout the last 12 months, 439 of which also required further follow-up visits to ensure compliance with Covid regulations.
While the vast majority of businesses act responsibly, five fixed penalty notices have been issued, including two to pubs, one to a gym and three to firms providing beauty treatments.
Leicester City Council’s head of regulatory service, Nicola Preston, said: “While it is reasonably easy for our officers to establish whether premises which should be closed are admitting customers, it is much more difficult to spot those illegally offering treatments in customers’ own homes.
“While it might be tempting to get a beauty treatment at home, it is still against the law under the national lockdown rules, because working so closely with someone else indoors carries a significant infection risk.
“We’re investigating more than a dozen reports of beauty services being offered at home. Some have been given formal warnings, and one has been fined £1,000.
“Customers can be fined £1,000 for breaching Covid-19 regulations, as well as the person carrying out the treatment. It just isn’t worth it – lockdown restrictions are being eased across the UK over the coming months, meaning people will be able to visit their usual salon lawfully no earlier than April 12.
“We all want to return to normal life, but it is vital that people continue to observe the current restrictions in the meantime.”
Once allowed to reopen, beauty businesses, including those operating from home, will still have to follow Government guidance to keep themselves, their employees and customers safe.
Guidance for close contact services can be found here.
Latest information for Leicester is available here.
To report a local breach of the national lockdown restrictions, email C19business@leicester.gov.uk
Leicester City Council News
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