Covid-19: Lockdown breach fines rise while some make bogus reports

Northumbria Police said there was still a place for engagement and encouraging the public to comply

Police have been called to more than 500 incidents of Covid-19 rule breaches in Newcastle in the past two weeks.

Northumbria Police said there had been a "significant increase" in action against people ignoring the lockdown rules compared to earlier this year.

In a 48-hour period last week officers arrested four people and issued 137 fines, Ch Supt Ged Noble said.

Meanwhile "miscreants" on Teesside have been making bogus reports of breaches, councillors have been warned.

Thornaby mayor Steve Walmsley said there had been "vexatious reports" of wild parties which did not exist.

'Bogus allegations'

"We had one 84-year-old who was 'having a wild rave' in her garden when she was just there with her grand-daughter," he said.

He told Cleveland's Police and Crime Panel the system was being abused to target those who reported other crimes.

After the meeting he said a "tiny minority of miscreants" were causing trouble in the town and residents were reporting them to police.

But they were then "ringing up making bogus allegations" against their accusers, he said.

• LOCKDOWN LOOK-UP: The rules in your area

• SOCIAL DISTANCING: How have rules on meeting friends changed?

• FACE MASKS: When do I need to wear one?

• SOCIAL LIFE: The rules when I go to the pub?

• LOCAL LOCKDOWNS: What happens if you have one?

Residents in Newcastle, Northumberland, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland, the County Durham council area, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool are currently banned from mixing with anyone outside their household or social bubble in any indoor setting.

Ch Supt Noble said police had shifted to a "more robust approach to enforcement activity" since tougher local lockdown measures had been introduced, with 503 reports of people breaking the rules.

One woman was fined £1,000 by Northumbria Police for failing to self-isolate after testing positive for Covid-19, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Another was fined the same amount for shopping when she should have been in quarantine following a holiday.