A YORK barbers shop at the centre of a wrangle over Covid mask rules has been closed down during a raid by police and council officials.

The doors to Q Gentlemens Barbershop in Bishopthorpe Road are shut, with a police officer standing at the entrance while colleagues work inside.

Two police vehicles are parked at the back of the premises.

Matt Boxall, head of public protection at City of York Council, told The Press: “We are working with the police and other partners to ensure the business closes as unfortunately it has not been able to trade in a Covid-secure way, as other businesses in the city do.”

It is understood that one customer was in the middle of a haircut when the raid happened.

The Press reported at the weekend how the business, which had been fined £33,000 over alleged breaches of Covid rules, remained open, with the owners claiming that rules making them wear masks were unlawful.

Ryan Cross and Dylan Bell, who had been ordered by City of York Council to shut it until July 17, claimed the authority was acting in an 'unlawful' way by trying to force them and their staff to wear face masks.

They said they would be happy to wear such masks, as directed, on condition that the council provided proof that their use could prevent the inhalation of substances or micro-organisms at the scale of ‘viruses’ and also proof that prolonged use would not cause 'hypercapnia, hypercarbia or respiratory acidosis' in the wearer.

Hypercapnia and hypercarbia relate to a build-up of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream, while respiratory acidosis is a condition that occurs when the lungs cannot remove all of the carbon dioxide the body produces.

The pair said they also wanted a signed and witnessed statement from the council accepting full responsibility and full commercial liability should they subsequently be diagnosed with hypercapnia or hypercarbia, or suffer an asthmatic attack or any other respiratory distress resulting from prolonged mask wearing.