AceShowbiz - Laurence Fox has hit headlines again as he took to Twitter on Sunday (29Nov20) to boast about breaking the U.K.'s coronavirus lockdown rules by having a "large group" over for lunch.

The "Lewis" star came under fire as he took to the social media site to tell fans that not only had he entertained numerous people from outside of his household - going directly against the national lockdown restrictions in place until Wednesday (02Dec20) - but they'd also had physical contact by embracing.

"Just had a large group over to lunch and we hugged and ate and talked and put the world to rights," he wrote. "It was lovely. You'll never take that away from people. Stay out. Protect your rights. If the @nhs can't cope, then the @nhs isn't fit for purpose."

He concluded, "Compliance is violence."

By hosting dinner at his house, Fox could be issued a fixed penalty notice - which start at $200 (£262) and rise up to £6,400 ($8,450) for repeat offences. And as people slammed the actor on Twitter, many of them looped in the Metropolitan Police - urging them to issue the screen star with a fine.

Fox later added, "The @nhs isn't my church and salvation. It's employees aren't my saviours. If you can't deal with a 99.9 per cent survival rate virus, you aren't fit for purpose. You don't need protecting, my elderly relatives do. I also love your emergency care and will continue to pay for it. For now."

"Go out. Enjoy yourselves. Be happy," he quipped.

The 42-year-old then called for an inquiry into how the U.K. government have handled the Covid-19 pandemic, and added, "We must remember never give our freedom away again, under such spurious circumstances."

Following the lifting of the national lockdown on Wednesday, England will return to its tiered lockdown restrictions - with different areas placed into different tiers according to their coronavirus rates.