Fourteen people have been fined after a large car meet gathered on the same day a ‘major incident’ was declared in London.

Officers were alerted by members of the public of a large gathering at Whitby Avenue, Park Royal, last Friday (January 8).

At the scene in Brent, there were 14 people and nine high-powered cars.

Police say they engaged with the people in attendance, and officers concluded there was “no clear reason” for their meeting and they were breaching current lockdown regulations.

The gathering took place on the same day that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, declared a ‘major incident’ in London due to a rapid spread of coronavirus cases across the capital.

There were concerns that emergency services were being overwhelmed, with the London Ambulance Service taking up 8,000 emergency calls a day compared to 5,500 on a typical busy day.

North West BCU Commander Chief Superintendent Louis Smith said: “The individuals that officers engaged with were, by their own admission, aware of the coronavirus rules, and intentionally broke them.

“As many as one in 20 Londoners in some parts of the capital have the virus. Social meetings such as these are facilitating the spread and putting the most vulnerable in our community at risk.

“The Mayor’s major incident announcement, which happened within the same 24 hours as this car meet, highlights the extreme pressure that emergency services are under at the moment. If you choose to break coronavirus legislation, then you are choosing to increase that pressure. Please stay at home, stay safe, and protect our NHS.”