18 staff members at a Bernard Matthews turkey plant in Suffolk have tested positive for Covid-19.

The members of staff affected are self isolating and around 100 other factory workers have been tested.

Food production at the plant has not been affected in the run up to the traditionally busy Christmas season.

Stuart Keeble, Suffolk’s director of public health, told Sky News:

I’d like to reassure people that this is, at this stage, a relatively small number of cases and that the situation is being very carefully managed by all the partners working closely together.

A spokesperson for Bernard Matthews said:

“We are grateful for the help of all local agencies and we fully support their objectives to protect the local community.

“We believe these small number of cases were initiated in the community, but nevertheless we will continue to enforce our robust Covid-19 measures as we enter into our busiest period of the year.”

Farmer fined for Covid-19 breaches

A landowner was issued with a hefty £10,000 fine over a wedding at a farm in Leeds, England, at the weekend, according to West Yorkshire Police.

The fine was handed down due to the breach in Covid-19 regulations, it was noted.

Also Read: Landowner handed hefty fine after holding wedding on farm

In a statement on the matter, West Yorkshire Police said:

Between 5:00pm and 6:00pm on Saturday [September 26], police started to receive calls about a wedding celebration at a marquee on land at Scarecrow Farm, in Whitehall Road, New Farnley, with reports of between 100 and 300 people present.

“One caller reported a fight having broken out.”

Officers attended the area and confirmed there was a large number of people and loud music around a marquee in woods – in clear breach of Covid-19 regulations.

A number of vehicles were still entering the site and police resources were deployed to block the entrance and prevent anyone else attending, it was noted.

While officers were working to identify the organisers, large numbers of people began to leave the site both on foot and in vehicles, with the event having fully dispersed by around 9:30pm, the police statement said.