Staff who attended a boozy leaving do for a top official who helped to write Covid rules are believed to have been fined as part of the Partygate probe.
Kate Josephs, a former director-general of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 Taskforce, issued a public apology earlier this year after details of the farewell bash on December 17 2020 emerged.
Police have reportedly handed out fixed penalty notices to staff who attended the drinks do in the Cabinet Office, which took place when indoor mixing was banned, according to the Telegraph.
London had been moved into Tier 3 on December 16 due to spiralling Covid infections, days before Boris Johnson cancelled Christmas for millions of Brits.
All indoor mixing was banned in the Capital, except for household bubbles, and hospitality venues were shut.
The bash is the third event resulting in fines for attendees from the Metropolitan Police, who are investigating 12 lockdown gatherings in Downing Street and Whitehall.
Police have issued 20 fines as part of the first wave of penalties, which are believed to focus on the most straightforward cases.
Fixed penalty notices have also been handed out to guests at a Downing Street leaving drinks on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral last year and a karaoke bash for a No10 official in June 2020.
Police have reportedly emailed attendees over the Cabinet Office do in 2020 to notify them of fixed penalty notices, but it is not known if Ms Josephs herself has been fined.
In a statement in January, she said: "On the evening of 17 December I gathered with colleagues that were at work that day, with drinks, in our office in the Cabinet Office to mark my leaving the Civil Service.
"I am truly sorry that I did this and for the anger that people will feel as a result. Sheffield has suffered greatly during this pandemic, and I apologise unreservedly.
"The specific facts of this event will be considered in the context of the investigation. I did not attend any events at 10 Downing Street."
It comes after former Whitehall ethics chief Helen MacNamara became the first person to publicly admit to being fined over Partygate and to issue an apology.
Ms MacNamara, who now works at the Premier League, was handed a £50 fixed penalty notice on Friday by police over a raucous leaving do at the Cabinet Office on June 18 2020, which resulted in a drunken brawl.
In a statement, she said: "I am sorry for the error of judgement I have shown. I have accepted and paid the fixed penalty notice."
Boris Johnson has not been issued with a fixed penalty notice but No10 has promised to confirm if the Prime Minister or civil service chief Simon Case receive fines.
Scotland Yard will not name those fined but pressure is mounting on No10 to come clean if senior figures were found to have flouted the rules.
