bbc | Social gatherings of more than six
people will be illegal in England from Monday - with some exemptions -
amid a steep rise in coronavirus cases.
The law change will ban larger groups meeting anywhere socially indoors or outdoors, the government said.
But it will not apply to schools, workplaces or Covid-secure weddings, funerals and organised team sports.
It will be enforced through a £100 fine if people fail to comply, doubling on each offence up to a maximum of £3,200.
The new rules - which come into force on 14 September - mark a change to England's current guidance.
At
present, the guidance says two households of any size are allowed to
meet indoors or outdoors, or up to six people from different households
outdoors. Until now the police have had no powers to stop gatherings
unless they exceeded 30.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will give
further details of the changes at a Downing Street news conference at
16:00 BST on Wednesday, alongside senior advisers Prof Chris Whitty and
Sir Patrick Vallance.
"One of the pieces of feedback we had including from
the police was that we needed the rules to be super simple so that
everybody knows what they are," said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
