North Yorkshire Police reach 1,000 Covid-19 fine milestone as police slam 'irresponsible' actions of individuals during half-term

More than 1,000 fines have been given to people who have breached Covid-19 regulations across North Yorkshire, police have revealed with officers condemning the actions of "irresponsible" individuals during the half-term week.
By Lucy Leeson
Published 25th Feb 2021, 06:00 BST
A generic policing picture.A generic policing picture.
A generic policing picture.

A total of 1,017 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) have been issued by policesince the start of the third national lockdown on January 6.

Latest figures, for the week commencing February 16, show 191 fines issued -the busiest week for police so far.

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Of the 191 fines, 52 per cent were given to visitors to North Yorkshire and York.

The figures also show that 63 per cent of all tickets issued in Scarborough were to visitors and 59 per cent were given for being outside of place or living without a reasonable excuse.

North Yorkshire Police Chief Inspector Charlotte Bloxham said: "As we expected, half term proved to be the busiest week we have experienced so far in enforcement terms, with 191 FPNs being issued across the seven days. Over half of the tickets issued were to visitors to the county and the majority for being outdoors without a reasonable excuse.

“Earlier this week we heard from the Prime Minister on the Government’s road map for leaving lockdown. I know we’re all eagerly awaiting life to return to normal and being reunited with our loved ones, but the Prime Minister did make one thing clear, the path out of lockdown was going to be led by data and not dates. The four steps he outlined to June 21, would only be taken if certain criteria were met – one of which was around the NHS being able to cope with the level of demand placed up on it and another the risk associated with new emerging variants of the virus.

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“Until the Government indicates that it is safe to move to the next stage of the road map on March 29, the current lockdown rules and regulations will stay in place and North Yorkshire Police will continue to police them. We will take the necessary enforcement action required to protect the green shoots of recovery we are starting to see and to protect all our chances of getting out of lockdown.

“I would ask the public to keep going. We are on the right path and we are doing the right things, but we must remain vigilant to the threat of the virus. Covid-19 has not gone away, please carry on sticking to the rules, so we can continue to move towards better times ahead."