KIRKLEES Council has defended its decision to reject lockdown-defying salon Quinn Blakey Hairdressing's Covid grant application, and also said no fines have been paid so far.

The salon in Bradford Road, Oakenshaw, run by its Covid-denying conspiracy theorist owner Sinead Quinn, applied for a Covid support grant after the current lockdown forced salons to close at the start of January.

However, Kirklees Council rejected the application saying the salon was "not eligible for a grant" as it had "failed to comply with national restrictions" and there is currently an injunction in place on the business.

READ MORE: Council denies Covid grant to Quinn Blakey Hairdressing due to illegal openings

Commenting on the decision, Councillor Paul Davies, cabinet member for culture and Greener Kirklees, said businesses that show a "disregard for the rules" will not be given support.

Kirklees Council also revealed that not a single penny of the £17,000 in fines racked up by Quinn Blakey last November, when it illegally opened for business during the second national lockdown, has been paid so far.

Cllr Davies said: “This business owner has repeatedly blatantly breached lockdown rules.

“The financial support from Government is available to support business impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. These rules are in place to help keep us safe by preventing the spread of Covid-19.

“If businesses show disregard for these rules and breach them, they are then ineligible for grant support.

"We asked the Government for clarification as to whether this business and any others who breached Covid-19 restrictions would be eligible and their decision was they were not.

“We are doing absolutely everything possible to support the overwhelming majority of local business who have followed the national restrictions and have paid out over £140million in grants so far.

"I’d like to thank all of the businesses that have followed the rules during these difficult times."