Additional reporting by Sean McPolin

A barber from West Malling has been warned by council staff to 'immediately cease trading' following his decision to open on the first day of the second national lockdown.

Met Warwick, 39, was handed a Part 4 Prohibition notice under Regulation 19 for ignoring guidelines which state all non-essential businesses must remain closed from today.

He first took to Facebook on Monday stating that he did not agree with non-essential businesses being required to close, and would be opening King's Hill Barbers, in Churchill Square, regardless of the rules.

Both Kent County Council (KCC) staff and members of Kent Police arrived at the premises around noon to speak to Mr Warwick, who is fully booked with customers and has been taking appointments since 8am.

The letter states: "The regulations impose certain restrictions to protect against the risks to public health arising from coronavirus.

"Failure to comply with the requirements of the regulations, without reasonable excuse, is as criminal offence."

The letter goes on to say that the notice "requires that you immediately cease the activities giving rise to contravention of the regulations."

The notice, does not detail how much the fine might be if he refuses to comply with the it.

KCC officers arrived outside building 70 of Churchill Square looking to gain access, However, Mr Warwick wasn’t in the shop at the time and was on a break.

As he walked towards the building they called out to him and had a discussion about the business and how he would carry on working, with one officer asking if he was going to carry on working, to which he replied he would.

Mr Warwick refused to take the notice, which was later left on the floor outside his shop, which he asked our reporter at the scene to put it in the bin.

After receiving the notice, Mr Warwick told KentOnline: "I'm going to stay in my room from now I might come out and confront it later, but won’t be aggressive, I’m not like that.

"I’m a family man who loves his family and loves country music."

The two police officers in attendance left the scene around 15 minutes later after speaking with the KCC officers.

Customers were seen arriving and leaving for appointments earlier that morning, but none wanted to speak to our reporter.

Mr Warwick then took to Facebook Live when he was back inside the premises.

In the video, which is more than 20 minutes long, he laughed as he said "I feel like I'm under siege."

The barber said: "There's police waiting for me outside - this is the intimidation now, this is what happens.

"I'm sure that there will be force used very very soon, that's fine.

"It's nuts, anybody would think I was a criminal."

As comments and viewers racked up, Mr Warwick told all who had an appointment to contact him directly.

WATCH: Barber tells KMTV why he refuses to close during lockdown

He also confirmed that he had received an email from the people he rents the business space from, but said he is not going to comment on that at this stage.

Earlier this week a spokesman for Capital Space, which administers the business premises on Churchill Square, said: “At present our view is that our customer is currently operating within the law.

“If and when the law changes, to make trading as a barber illegal, our customer will not doubt reassess the situation.

“We will be keeping the situation under review.”

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