A NUMBER of Thurrock residents have been brought before a court and made to pay for breaching Covid-19 restrictions.

A first wave of prosecutions came before Basildon magistrates recently, relating to offences that happened in April and May.

Among those who were prosecuted were John, 32, and William ,33, Bruce of Gainsborough avenue, Tilbury.

Both were fined £220 in relation to being stopped while walking along with two trollies of scrap metal.

Brian Fayre, 54, of Broadway, Grays, was a double offender. On 5 May at 6.45pm he was found in Grays and taken home and told to stay indoors but he failed to comply and was found outside again a short time later.

He too received a £220 fine.

Karol Konieczny, 23, of Argent Street, Grays, was another to breach a restriction of movement order brought in under lockdown rules and compounded his situation by being found smoking cannabis two streets away from his home address.

He was fined £85.

Two Thurrock men were among a group of people discovered close to Stanford-le-Hope, driving vehicles in a quarry.

Dean Lucey, 32, of Cornwell Crescent, Stanford-le-Hope, was fined £85, while Mark Wild, 31, of St Margaret's Avenue, Stanford-le-Hope, was fined £305.

A trip to 'chill' with a friend, cost Justas Truksinas, 22, of Painswick Avenue, Stanford-le-Hope, a fine of £92 after he was stopped and questioned about why he was driving a vehicle in Chelmsford in April.