Trading standards to check alcohol is being served with food as police patrol North and West Yorkshire border

It comes after North Yorkshire Police confirmed that officers will be patrolling the border with West Yorkshire to ask people where and why people are travelling into the area.

North Yorkshire is the Tier 2 'High Alert' Covid restriction level category.

This means pubs and bars must close unless they are operating as restaurants and serving food.

It also means hospitality venues can only serve alcohol with "substantial meals".

Businesses must serve table service only, stop taking orders after 10pm and close by 11pm.

Local authorities and Trading Standards are leading the enforcement of the restrictions on these businesses.

They will be visiting licensed premises where the serving of alcohol is allowed as part of a table meal.

They will take action against any businesses that do not abide by this rule.

North Yorkshire Police said they should only be required to attend such premises as a last resort.

The force is also carrying out high-visibility patrols along the force borders to discourage people from neighbouring Tier 3 locations from travelling into the area.

Many areas of north Leeds share a border with North Yorkshire - with market towns such as Otley, Wetherby and Bramham being particularly close.

Under the new rules, this means pubs, bars and restaurants must remain shut in an area such as Boston Spa, but can reopen just a ten minute drive away in Tadcaster.

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Superintendent Mike Walker, lead for the North Yorkshire Police Covid-19 response said: “The introduction of a new set of regulations for the public and business owners to follow raises inevitable questions about the policing and enforcement of those regulations.

"So I’d like to be clear and state that North Yorkshire Police’s approach to policing the pandemic remains unchanged.

“It is our responsibility to keep the public of North Yorkshire safe, and we take that responsibility incredibly seriously.

"It’s what every police officer and member of police staff come to work to do and quite rightly, what the public expect of us.

“So, until the threat this virus poses is eradicated, we will continue to play our part in containing it.

"We will continue to engage with the public when we are out on patrol in our towns, villages and cities and we will speak to people and explain the regulations and encourage them to adhere to the guidance."

He added: “Enforcement does play a part in our approach.

"But as we have previously stated, it is taken as a last resort with those who believe that the same rules and regulations which apply to each one of us, don’t apply to them.

"We all know that it only takes the poor decisions of a few, to jeopardise the hard work and self-sacrifice of many.

“As we know, the best way to beat this virus is to work together, so we will continue to work closely alongside our local authority partners and other agencies to ensure our response is coordinated and effective.

“We police by consent, so we do need the support of the public to ensure we succeed in our collective task.

"So thank you to all those people and businesses who are working with us and have adapted to the new tiers and who are continuing to act responsibly for the safety of the most vulnerable among us.”