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Covid: Bridgend chemist among businesses to breach rules

BBC MW Phillips, BridgendBBC
The notice to MW Phillips Chemist was lifted two days after it was issued

A chemist is one of a number of businesses in Wales to have breached Covid regulations in recent weeks.

Three businesses in Bridgend county were given warnings, pubs in Newport and Merthyr Tydfil closed and one pub in Pontardawe fined for breaches.

Staff at MW Phillips Chemist on Nolton Street, Bridgend, were found to not be wearing masks when they should have been and the store was given a warning.

However, the notice was lifted two days later after the business complied.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a report by enforcement officers said the company's head office had told staff they did not need to wear masks behind the counter.

But Jaswant Jeers, from the company, said it was "not true" that staff had been told this and they "must wear PPE" in all public areas.

He added: "If someone didn't wear it at that moment in time, we would apologise, but we've given further instructions again to every one of our store staff to wear PPE at all times."

Park View
The Park View Inn in Merthyr Tydfil is one of a number of pubs to have been told to shut

The council also issued notices to Mamaris Kebab, Bridgend, and The Greedy Pig, Porthcawl, after finding staff were working closely together without masks.

The Greedy Pig co-owner Scott Gander said he had "mixed feelings" about the restaurant being told to improve.

He said kitchen staff were wearing masks but not over their mouths at the time when enforcement officers visited the premises because the heat in the kitchen "makes it uncomfortable for the chefs", but said the pub was "rightly" issued with a warning.

The Castle in Pontardawe, Neath Port Talbot, has been fined £1,000 after hosting a "party" on the day restrictions on alcohol sales in pubs began in Wales.

Wyndham Arms
The Wyndham Arms, Merthyr Tydfil, has also been told to shut for two weeks

Meanwhile the Wyndham Arms and Park View Inn in Merthyr Tydfil have both been closed for two weeks for "allowing customers to behave as if there were no restrictions in place".

In Newport, the Crown Inn has also been hit with a two-week closure by the council for breaches which included a lack of social distancing, household mixing, a failure to accurately record track and trace and customers being served at the bar.