Group from West Yorkshire fined after being caught at 'paranormal activity event' in Chester

The group had travelled for more than 80 miles to reach the alleged event in a derelict building in a rural location near Chester.

Cheshire Police Rural Crime Team said 12 Covid fines were issued to three separate groups at the "incredibly dangerous" location.

The team posted: "Towards the end of my shift yesterday evening I noticed numerous vehicles parked outside a derelict building in a rural location near Chester. There were no permissions granted for anyone to be in the building which was in a poor state of repair. As a result, it was an incredibly dangerous place to be, with parts of the building subject to collapse.

"On checking the building it quickly became clear that a number of people were inside, with others outside. Three groups were eventually located.

"Group 1 – Travelled from parts of West Yorkshire in a group not all from the same household. Alleged they had arranged for a paranormal activity event at the location.

"Group 2 – Travelled from parts Derbyshire in a group all not from the same household, again alleging they were paranormal activity investigators.

"Group 3 – Travelled from parts of Cheshire, however from different households, and stated they were ‘’urban explorers’’.

"In total there were 12 people found in the building forming three separate groups."

Police said none of the groups were exempt from Covid regulations.

All have been issued with fines and reported for trespass offences, police confirmed.

The team continued: "Not only did this incident put myself and my colleagues at risk of injury by having to locate the 12 involved, by entering an unsafe building, the group of 12 inside, if injured, would have put more emergency services personnel at unnesessary risk.

"In addition, since they had travelled some distance, they had also put our emergency services at risk during what was a period of high demand."