Police Federation chairman urges people not to follow Dominic Cummings's example

Mr Cummings, a political advisor to the government, has been criticised for travelling 300 miles from London to Durham back in March to stay with family, when he was supposed to be self-isolating at home with coronavirus symptoms, as per government rules.

A member of the public later said they spotted him on a day trip at Barnard Castle in Teesside, despite government guidance to avoid unnecessary travel.

Over the weekend, the Government faced a barrage of criticism from journalists, members of the public and a number of MPs, including high profile Conservative politicians.

Yesterday, there were numerous calls for Mr Cummings to resign and a petition calling for his resignation attracted hundreds of thousands of signatures.

Brian Booth called on people not to let "the actions of a few” undo the hard work already done in reducing the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Booth said: “I have absolutely no doubt the difficulties my colleagues have when engaging with the public will be made more difficult in the following week, due to the actions of a senior Government figure and the defending of this position by those around him.”

He praised the people of the county for sticking to the rules and pleaded with members of the public not to allow Mr Cummings’s actions to stop them doing what is right.

He said: “The majority of West Yorkshire people have done and continue to do a sterling job, doing their bit abiding by the rules.

“Please do not let the actions of a few influence and unpick the hard work already done in reducing the spread.”

He said that it was already very hard for police to protect members of the public under the current rules, which were relaxed on 10 May.

“Since the last relaxation of the rules we have seen such a massive increase in people being out of their homes, which is not unlawful in itself.

“Unless it is an absolutely blatant breach of the rules like a gang of people meeting together, then it is unrealistic to expect my colleagues to question everybody about their movements.

“There is a long list of exemptions to the rules and these can be manipulated by those who choose, again making it difficult for officers to try and help in keeping our communities safe.”

Mr Booth had previously said that a relaxing of the lockdown rules ensured that policing the coronavirus epidemic had become impossible.

He appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme warning that it was difficult for police to sort truth from lies, which meant it was easy for rule-breakers to get away with putting others at risk.