A YORK barbers shop at the centre of a wrangle over Covid mask rules has been closed down during a raid by police and council officials.

Police officers have been removing furniture from Q Gentlemens Barbershop in Bishopthorpe Road and a council sign in the window states: "The Health Protection (coronavirus restrictions England) regulations 2020. This premises has been closed until further notice."

Police vehicles were parked at the back of the premises and officers have been investigating inside.

Matt Boxall, head of public protection at City of York Council, told The Press: “We are working with the police and other partners to ensure the business closes as unfortunately it has not been able to trade in a Covid-secure way, as other businesses in the city do.”

It is understood that one customer was in the middle of a haircut when the raid happened.

The Press reported at the weekend how the business, which had been fined £33,000 over alleged breaches of Covid rules, remained open, with the owners claiming that rules making them wear masks were unlawful.

Ryan Cross and Dylan Bell, who had been ordered by City of York Council to shut it until July 17, claimed the authority was acting in an 'unlawful' way by trying to force them and their staff to wear face masks.

They said they would be happy to wear such masks, as directed, on condition that the council provided proof that their use could prevent the inhalation of substances or micro-organisms at the scale of ‘viruses’ and also proof that prolonged use would not cause 'hypercapnia, hypercarbia or respiratory acidosis' in the wearer.

Hypercapnia and hypercarbia relate to a build-up of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream, while respiratory acidosis is a condition that occurs when the lungs cannot remove all of the carbon dioxide the body produces.

The pair said they also wanted a signed and witnessed statement from the council accepting full responsibility and full commercial liability should they subsequently be diagnosed with hypercapnia or hypercarbia, or suffer an asthmatic attack or any other respiratory distress resulting from prolonged mask wearing.

The directors alleged that £33,000 worth of fixed penalty notices issued by the council against the business were unlawful and they were confident they could not be enforced in the courts.

They said they also intended to continue opening the shop, as they were entitled under common law.

"It is our body and our body alone," thehy said. "Nobody has the rights to our bodies, consent must be gained, anything else is false.”

Their comments came after the council said on Friday it had taken further action against the business following further complaints from residents about it allegedly not following Covid rules.

It said it had now issued 12 fixed penalty notices under Covid rules - totalling £33,000 in fines, and said the fines had not yet been paid.

The council originally ordered the business to temporarily shut down between May 13 and May 20 but said it had now extended the orderto July 17.

Matt Boxall, head of public protection, said then that to protect the public from infection risks and to address repeated breaches of Covid rules, it had served a direction on Q Gentlemens Barbers York which required it to close from 6pm on 13 May 2021 to 6pm on 20 May 2021 so that it could put in place the necessary Covid safety measures.

“We are taking an escalated approach as required by the regulations," he said. "As such, following a number of complaints and due to continued non-compliance, yesterday (20 May 2021) we served a further direction on the business and its two directors, Mr Ryan Cross and Mr Dylan Bell. This requires them to close the premises until 11.50pm on 17 July 2021 when the current regulations expire or until they can demonstrate satisfactorily that they have complied with the requirements of coronavirus legislation.

“These regulations are being followed by every other hairdresser in order to keep staff and customers safe. It is deeply frustrating that we are having to continue to work with Q Gentlemens Barbers in this way. Fixed penalty tickets also issued to them and designed to resolve matters without them becoming criminal convictions in court, also remain unpaid. Compliance is undoubtedly better for public safety and for business.

More to follow.