Police presence to be stepped up in North Yorkshire communities as lockdown rule-breaking increases, chief vows

A North Yorkshire police chief has said the force is increasing the number of officers in communities tasked with apprehending lockdown rule-breakers.

It comes as it was revealed 143 fines have been issued over the past week to rule-breakers in North Yorkshire, an increase of 56 from the previous week.

For the third week in a row, Scarborough remains the hot-spot for people breaking restrictions.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The police said 55 fines had been issued in the coastal town, compared 45 in York, the next highest number.

Harrogate and Richmond were the bottom two areas for fines issued.

Six fines were given out in Harrogate and none were issued in Richmond.

Police said most of the fixed penalty notices given were to local residents, but some 57 were issued to people travelling into North Yorkshire from outside the county.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Some 2359 fines have been issued by North Yorkshire Police since the start of the pandemic, 20 per cent of which have been in the current lockdown which started just over a month ago.

Police chiefs have said they will be increasing number of officers in communities tasked with apprehending lockdown rule-breakersPolice chiefs have said they will be increasing number of officers in communities tasked with apprehending lockdown rule-breakers
Police chiefs have said they will be increasing number of officers in communities tasked with apprehending lockdown rule-breakers

Supt Mike Walker said: “We have clearly remained committed to keeping the public safe.

“Frustratingly and disappointingly we have had an increase in the number of fixed penalty notices we have issued over the past week.

“Due to the continual covid breaches, we are going to respond by providing more dedicated resources to support the enforcement activity.

The public can expect to see more resources across communities, and the public can have the confidence to report covid breaches to our website.”