Boris Johnson raised a beer indoors with at least 10 aides in County Durham to celebrate the Tories winning the Hartlepool by-election, while restrictions banned socialising inside pubs.
The PM was photographed in the bar of the Jackson's Wharf Inn on the city's waterfront, where they stayed for around 45 minutes while Tier 2 restrictions were still in place banning socialising indoors and drinking inside pubs.
Labour has accused senior Tories of “wasting police time” by trying to get the Durham force to investigate Keir Starmer over pictures of him having dinner and a bottle of lager with campaign staff while campaigning a week earlier, in April 2021.
Rules allowed people to stop for food in the workplace, and Durham police said no further action was necessary.
But pubs were still banned from serving customers indoors, and indoor socialising was against the law "except with your household or support bubble."
And on the morning of May 7, Mr Johnson travelled by plane to Hartlepool Marina to celebrate Jill Mortimer's victory in the by-election the previous day.
Mr Johnson, Ms Mortimer, party chair Amanda Milling and several members of Number 10 staff, a photographer and videographer were seen entering and leaving the pub.
Neither Mr Johnson nor Ms Mortimer are wearing masks in the picture, which later emerged on social media, though they did wear masks in other pictures taken during the same visit.
Meanwhile, dozens of people - including young children - were kept waiting outside the pub in torrential rain, waiting for the Prime Minister to emerge.
The Mirror’s analysis of video footage of the visit revealed at least 10 aides, MPs and and members of the Prime Minister’s staff accompanied him inside the pub.
Earlier the same day, while posing for photos on the Marina, the PM had to be reminded to keep a social distance from Ms Mortimer by a member of staff.
The pair stood for pictures in front of a giant inflatable recreation of Mr Johnson giving a “thumbs up” gesture.
Tory MP Richard Holden was this week accused of wasting police time for repeatedly demanding Durham Constabulary reopen an investigation into Mr Starmer having dinner with colleagues during a working day.
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said Mr Holden was wrong to ask officers to re-examine "this nonsense", as she insisted no rules were broken.
And it came after the Mirror revealed Mr Holden had enjoyed a work meal of his own the same week, admitting he'd shared a "curry and an orange squash" with a team of Gurkhas in Kent.
The Labour leader has said there is a "stark contrast" between the gathering in the Durham constituency office of local MP Mary Foy last year and the rule-breaking in Downing Street that has seen Boris Johnson fined by police.
When the Mirror initially asked about Mr Johnson’s visit last May, the Conservative Party said: “The PM visited a pub in Hartlepool [last May] and heard from the owners about how the business was operating for outdoor service as well as their preparations for reopening indoors.”
Asked about it again this week, the party added that he had also given an interview to a newspaper, understood to be the Daily Telegraph, during the visit.
