A man has been fined by the police after breaking coronavirus lockdown rules and then lying about what he had done.
The man visited a friend's house in Lowton near Wigan for a drink on Friday night.
Under the current lockdown, you are not allowed to socialise with anyone indoors unless they are from the same household as you or in your support bubble.
Officers confirmed they issued the man who broke the rules with a fixed penalty, reports the Manchester Evening News.
After discovering what he'd done, police said the man "tried to lie about why he was there".
In a Facebook post, officers from GMP's Golborne and Lowton team said: "As a follow on from yesterdays post reminding you we are currently in Lockdown 2.0 as they say and under Government restrictions, a fixed penalty was issued to a male last night who decided he was going to see his mate and have a brew with him and to make matters worse he tried to lie about why he was there.
"You cannot go to another persons address unless for certain exemptions i.e. child care, support bubble etc. full details are available on line."
From November 5 when the lockdown started until December 2 when it is due to end, the only way you can socialise with someone not in your household is if you meet them in an outside public space. You can only meet with one other person.
All restaurants, pubs, cafes and other hospitality venues are currently closed unless they offer a takeaway service. Non-essential shops are also closed apart from for click and collect. Most forms of entertainment are closed too, such as museums, cinemas and many sporting activities.
Schools and universities remain open, however, as do services like dentists, garden centres and supermarkets.
People aged 18 or over in England who get a fixed penalty notice will have to pay £200 if it is their first one. This is reduced to £100 if they pay within £14 days.
It is £400 for the second offence and this doubles for each subsequent offence up to a maximum fine of £6,400.
