A MAN who was running an illegal barber shop in his garden shed during lockdown has been fined £1,000.

Trading standards and Covid Enforcement Officers caught the 26-year-old cutting hair in the shed in his back garden on February 5, following a tip-off.

Businesses such as hairdressers – which involve close contact between people – are not allowed to operate during the current Wales-wide level-four lockdown restrictions.

Council officers have been given powers to close any premises that are breaking the rules, and issue fixed penalty notices to traders.

The shed barber was caught at his home address in the Morgan Jones Park area of Caerphilly.

As well as the £1,000 fine, he was ordered to stop providing the hair-cutting service immediately.

“We continue to support businesses who are currently able to remain operational to both understand and comply with the law," Caerphilly county borough councillor Nigel George said following the incident. "These rules are in place to protect both employees and the public.

"In this instance, the individual in question was not operating from an established business, however, we will continue to take action against those found to be in breach of the law.”

The Caerphilly incident follows last month's police raid on a hair salon in Cwmbran, which led to comical scenes as CCTV cameras caught customers – some of whom had been in the middle of beauty treatments – fleeing the premises via a fire escape.