1,500 rule breakers pay price

MORE than 1,500 people in Lancashire were slapped with fines by police for breaching new Covid-19 laws in 2020, new figures show.

Lancashire Constabulary have issued more fixed penalty notices than Merseyside and all three Yorkshire boroughs since the rules came into force in March last year.

The Red Rose county is ranked in the top five of all police forces in England and Wales, with only Northumbria, the Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester and Dyfed-Powys issuing more fines over the past 10 months.

At least a dozen £10,000 fines have also handed out by Lancashire Police over the past few months to people breaking Covid rules. The figures do not take into account breaches reported over Christmas and New Year.

New data published by National Police Chiefs Council

(NPCC) showed that 32,329 fixed penalty notices were issued by forces across the country between March 27 and December 21 last year.

The report said there had been a downward trend in recent weeks after a surge in fines as restrictions were tightened from last September.

For face coverings, the NPCC figures showed 958 fines were issued between June 15 and December 20, including 199 on public transport. The remaining 759 were handed out in places such as shops.