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Cut down on your alcohol intake – even try a dry month! The long, warm summer nights enjoying a glass of wine, beer, G&T in the garden each night has been great hasn’t it? Have you stopped to think of how many units of alcohol that has added up to over a day, week, month or the whole summer? Probably many more than you think, almost certainly exceeding the government guidelines of a maximum of fourteen units of alcohol a week.

Press Release: Tesco fined £160,000 for out of date food. Tesco was convicted at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 25 September 2020, after pleading guilty to having 46 food items on shelves at their store in Warfield, Bracknell, past their used by dates and deemed unsafe.  Tesco was ordered to pay £160,000 in fines, a victim’s surcharge of £170 and costs of £7,756.50.

Operating a Food Business From Home. Has the COVID pandemic caused you to have to re-think your working arrangements or career? Many people are now looking to work from home and combine their love of cooking and baking. If this is something you are considering then read the following for advice on what steps you'll need to take.

Reminder for Hospitality Venues of New COVID Legislation. There's been a lot of new regulations come in this past week for pubs & restaurants. Here's a quick reminder on some of these key new laws you'll need to abide by:

Update for Taxi Drivers. Following the Prime Ministers announcement on 22 September 2020, the Department for Transport (DfT) laid a Statutory Instrument in both Houses of Parliament to mandate the wearing of face coverings in taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) in England under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. This regulation has now come into effect.

Latest update (22nd September) from Prime Minister regarding COVID restrictions includes

£250, 000 Scammed from Three Local Residents in One Week. Our Fraud Victim Support Officer, Malcolm Philips, is urging residents to be wary of scam calls following a total loss of over £250,000 from two Newbury and one Wokingham resident last week.

Three new pieces of legislation relating to COVID have come into force today (18th September). 1 – Test & Trace. It’s now a legal obligation that certain businesses/premises collect test & trace contact details from their customers. 2 – QR Unique Venue Code. Venues/premises must generate a unique QR code from Government website and display prominently in their premises (from 24th September). 3 – Social Distancing Management – It is now a legal responsibility that responsible persons for certain businesses (food or drink consumed on premises) must now take reasonable measures to ensure social distancing guidelines, on their premises, are strictly adhered to.

Successful Outcome Following Bonfire Nuisance Complainants. Our Community Trading Standards team recently received reports regarding a Wokingham resident who was having numerous bonfires over the period of a few weeks. These bonfires were affecting surrounding neighbour’s use of their gardens and they were unable to open their windows due to the smoke and smell.

The ‘Hands. Face. Space.’ Public information campaign, launched by the Government yesterday, urges the public to continue to wash their hands, cover their face and make space to control infection rates and avoid a second peak.