Police officers were spat at and racial abused after breaking up a house party in Gloucester last night.

A man has been arrested following the incident at Hatherley Road shortly after 9pm.

Officers were called to Hatherley Road after a resident reported a house party taking place on the road.

Two officers attended the location where they found a group of six people who had met up.

One officer was spat at and the second had racial abuse aimed at them by a man after speaking to the group to advise that they were breaching social distancing rules.

A 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, assaulting a police officer and racially aggravated public order against a police officer.

Chief Constable Rod Hansen said: "Assaults on officers will not be tolerated and we will continue to take the strongest action possible against anyone who behaves in this way.

"We’re dealing with a pandemic and it is sad to hear that our staff have been faced with this type of unacceptable behaviour.

“I would like to thank all of my officers for the hard work they have provided and will continue to provide in the fight against the pandemic."

The Government passed new legislation last week which means that officers and PCSOs can now take action against anyone who is not complying with social distancing rules and more information can be found here: legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/350/pdfs/uksi_20200350_en.pdf