More than 9,000 fines for coronavirus lockdown breaches in England and Wales

Police officers patrol the beach front at Portobello as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of coronavirus Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA

One person was fined six times for allegedly flouting Covid-19 lockdown laws, as it has been revealed more than 9,000 fines were handed to people in England and Wales.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said 8,877 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) were recorded by forces in England between March 27 and April 27, while 299 were issued in Wales over the same period - a total of 9,176.

Some 397 were for repeat offenders, with one person fined six times.

Police have been given powers to hand out a £60 penalty, that is reduced to £30 if paid within two weeks, for breaches of the government’s restriction rules.

Credit: PA Graphics

Deputy Chief Constable Sara Glen said reports of anti-social behaviour more than doubled to around 215,000 in the four weeks to April 27, compared to about 106,000 in the same period last year.

But she said enforcement of the Government’s restriction of movement regulations remains relatively low with more than 200,000 coronavirus-related calls received.

Police say when the sun comes out, so does the public. Credit: PA

Ms Glen said younger people were more likely to breach the lockdown rules, with figures showing around eight out of 10 people fined were men, a third were aged between 18-24 and another third aged 25-34.

“The vast majority of the fines that we’re seeing enforced are people actually not complying, being out in public spaces where they don’t have a reasonable excuse to do so, not listening to the officers’ advice in respect of engaging and explaining to the extent where the officer then has to issue a ticket to secure compliance,” she said.

“There are some definite correlations when it gets hot and when it is good weather where we see troublesome spots, whether that’s beaches or whether that’s countryside, rural communities where people want to go and walk.

“We definitely have seen that when we’ve had hot weather but, on the whole, we are seeing as soon as officers arrive, as soon as they engage and explain, the vast, vast majority of the public are adhering to the rules.”

NPCC chairman Martin Hewitt said: “As the latest provisional figures on the number of fines issued show, the vast majority of people continue to do the right thing, staying at home in order to protect the NHS and help save lives.

“The figures also show our use of the enforcement powers remains proportionate with just 0.02% of the population in England being issued with a fine.”

How many lockdown fines have been issued in your area?

Here are the total number of fines issued by police forces in England between March 27 and April 27 for alleged breaches of the new coronavirus lockdown laws:

  • Avon & Somerset: 211

  • Bedfordshire: 215

  • British Transport Police: 224

  • Cambridgeshire: 87

  • Cheshire: 96

  • City of London: 37

  • Cleveland: 223

  • Cumbria: 107

  • Derbyshire: 128

  • Devon & Cornwall: 510

  • Dorset: 116

  • Durham: 94

  • Essex: 111

  • Gloucestershire: 162

  • Greater Manchester: 171

  • Hampshire: 197

  • Hertfordshire: 189

  • Humberside: 76

  • Kent: 105

  • Lancashire: 633

  • Leicestershire: 230

  • Lincolnshire: 124

  • Merseyside: 217

  • Metropolitan: 634

  • MoD Police: 14

  • Norfolk: 227

  • North Yorkshire: 458

  • Northamptonshire: 198

  • Northumbria: 150

  • Nottinghamshire: 89

  • South Yorkshire: 258

  • Staffordshire: 28

  • Suffolk: 187

  • Surrey: 346

  • Sussex: 348

  • Thames Valley: 649

  • Warwickshire: 22

  • West Mercia: 87

  • West Midlands: 322

  • West Yorkshire: 460

  • Wiltshire: 137

  • Total: 8,877

Number of fines issued by police forces in Wales in the same time frame:

  • Dyfed-Powys: 64

  • Gwent: 63

  • South Wales: 102

  • North Wales: 70

  • Total: 299