POLICE dealt with several house parties and a pub that stayed open and served alcohol as people around the county broke lockdown rules on New Year's Eve.

Officers issued more than 20 formal warnings for Covid-19 breaches during what a spokesman called a relatively quiet and peaceful NYE for the police.

They dealt with house parties in Swindon and wider Wiltshire and visited a Trowbridge pub just after 10pm because it was deliberately defying lockdown regulations by allowing a small group of customers inside for a private party.

The pub-goers were spoken to by officers and will be dealt with "in due course", the Wiltshire Police spokesman added.

Superintendent Adrian Burt said that the vast majority of people across Swindon and Wiltshire had adhered to the government's restrictions and seen in the new year at home with members of their own household.

He added: "Although there were a small number of incidents where people were flouting the rules, overall we saw a very quiet and peaceful New Year's Eve.

"I would like to thank our communities for their cooperation. I know that many will have been disappointed not to have had their usual celebrations, but it is clear that we need to work together to try to bring the spread of Covid-19 under control.

"Please remember that Swindon is currently in Tier 4, while Wiltshire is in Tier 3, so if you are unsure about the current restrictions, please visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus for further information.”

Wiltshire Police chief constable Keir Pritchard told BBC Wiltshire: "It's clear that as fireworks celebrating New Year started to subside, my call room started to be inundated with further reports of Covid breaches.

"Pretty much 90 per cent of the open control room logs reported various breaches, including house parties in Chippenham, Tidworth, Salisbury and Swindon so my resources were very busy responding and dealing with these reports."