North Wales Police are handing out around two fines a day for breaches of lockdown rules
Latest figures published by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) show that 299 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) have been recorded by forces in Wales up to 27 April for breaches of lockdown regulations.
As part of social-distancing measures, new regulations were introduced on 27 March to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
They enable police officers to issue individuals with £60 fines if they failed to comply after officers have engaged with them, explained the risks to public health and encouraged voluntary compliance.
A total of 9,176 FPN’s have been handed out between 27th March and 27 April across England and Wales.
In North Wales, police have issued 70 FPN’s for lockdown breaches within the same timeframe, the second-highest of the four Welsh forces.
Thames Valley Police has handed out the most FPN’s, 649 closely followed by the Met (634) and Lancashire Police (633) Cheshire Police have issued 96 FPN’s.
The regulations were tweaked in Wales last week to make it clear that people who go out for essential reasons must return straight home afterwards.
NPCC Chair 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 per cent of the population being issued with a fine
“I want to thank people for continuing to follow the regulations – I recognise it’s not easy and that this is a challenging time for us all.
“Our approach of – engage, explain and encourage, and only as a last resort, enforce –will continue. It is working.
“I urge the public to keep going, keep following the advice: stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.”
Staying at home
You should only leave the house for very limited purposes:
- shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
- one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household.
- any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
- travelling for work purposes, but only where you cannot work from home.
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