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Fitness & Health

15th Oct 2020

Armed police close gym near Liverpool after owner refused to shut doors

Alex Roberts

armed police

The gym’s owner was hit with a £1,000 fine.

A gym in the Wirral, close to Liverpool, was this week shut down by armed police after refusing to close its doors to the public.

Liverpool and the wider Merseyside area is currently under strict lockdown measures, and gyms are not permitted to be open.

Bodytech Fitness is owned by Nick Whitcombe, a competitive bodybuilder who won the 2012 Junior Mr. Britain title.

In a video posted to the gym’s social media channels, Whitcombe documented the moment armed police turned up to the gym to close it down. He was then subsequently hit with a fine.

View this post on Instagram

We are so close to having this turned around, please support us, we can do this. https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-liverpool-gyms • 22,000,000 (22 million) gym visits resulted in a mere 78 Covid cases • Uk gyms showing just 0.35 cases per 100,000 visits Then we have the latest (unpublished study) since the increase in positive tests https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-54464470 • Gyms are still only showing 1.7% percent of cases, but they want to close us and keep restaurants open which have a higher rate of 9.6% cases, which is still CRAZY LOW so these should also stay open. Mental health – the gym helps so many people with their mental health daily. • Male suicide is now at an all time high – https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3431 Data published by the Office for National Statistics on 1 September showed that in 2019 the suicide rate among men and boys was 16.9 deaths per 100 000, the highest since 2000 and slightly above the 2018 rate of 16.2 per 100 000. The suicide rate among women and girls was 5.3 deaths per 100 000 in 2019, up from 5.0 per 100 000 in 2018 and the highest since 2004. Overall, 5691 suicides (4303 in men and boys) were registered in England and Wales in 2019, giving an age standardised rate of 11 deaths per 100 000 people. A total of 5420 were registered in 2018 (10.5 per 100 000). Further supported by this https://academic.oup.com/qjmed/article/113/10/707/5857612 which discusses suicide, mental health and COVID The Government has ignored all the above facts and evidence and even ignored the calls of the Great Barrington Declaration 7,000 scientists & medics worldwide calling for a new strategy to allow us to live our lives. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-lockdown-measures-restrictions-boris-johnson-great-barrington-b862393.html Joe Anderson, the Mayor of Liverpool has also last week, stated he does not agree with the measures the government are enforcing on Merseyside and they did not let him have a say about HIS REGION and that the government are “more interested in what they look like, rather than the evidence”

A post shared by Nick Capo Whitcombe (@nickcapo__) on

Whitcombe says armed officers arrived at his gym after an anonymous tip off from a member of the public.

After filming the seven or eight armed police officers that turned up to the gym, gym owner Whitcombe explained the situation.

“We have just received our first £1,000 fine at Body Tech,” he said.

“After meeting with the police yesterday, they told us we would get a warning first day, then a second warning, £100 fine, £200 fine and so on.

“They were with us this morning, gave us our warning. Then came back this afternoon, orders from their top boss to issue a fine straight away.”

Whitcombe then explained that the severity of the fines would increase the longer his gym stayed open.

“They’ve issued the fine. First one’s £1,000. They can come back in three hours and issue a £2,000 fine.”

Members of the community have rallied around gyms in the Merseyside area.

Hot Water Comedy Club, which has played host to some of the funniest people in the North West of England and beyond, said they were looking to raise money for the independent gyms that have been forced to close.

The comedy club, which is still permitted to be open under Tier 3 lockdown legislation, branded the decision to close all gyms as “disgraceful”.

Bodytech owner Nick Whitcomb has posted a fundraising link in his Instagram bio for people wishing to donate.