Lancashire police top lockdown league table

County’s constabulary handed out 380 lockdown fines – 378 more than the lowest force total

Lancashire police have issued more penalty notices for breaches of the lockdown restrictions than any other force in England, it has been revealed. The constabulary, based in Preston, have handed out 380 fines since the lockdown began – 161 more than the next force, Thames Valley, and 378 more than the force with the lowest total, Humberside. Penalty notices handed out by Lancashire police included a fine for a man who drove 20 miles to buy Easter eggs.

LANCASHIRE police, whose officers fined a man for driving 20 miles to buy Easter eggs, has topped the coronavirus lockdown league table with 190 times more penalty notices issued than the most lenient force.

Lancashire constabulary has issued 380 fines in the three weeks since the lockdown was introduced compared with just two by Humberside, the lowest by a police force. Thames Valley was second with 219.

As well as the driver making the journey for Easter eggs, others included a man who drove from Bradford to Blackpool to arrange car insurance, a man who drove 130 miles to Cumbria and another who drove 100 miles to pick up gym equipment.

The 3,200 fines issued by all 43 forces and published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) come after criticism of “heavy-handed” policing of the lockdown by some forces when compared with their falling prosecutions of burglaries, thefts and other “minor” offences in recent years.

The lockdown has, however, helped slash those crime rates, according to the NPCC, with all offences down by 28 per cent. Apart from a three per cent rise in domestic abuse during the lockdown, the only other area to increase is anti-social behaviour which surged by 59 per cent to 178,000 incidents fuelled by breaches of the lockdown.

There were 112,000 incidents relating to the coronavirus restrictions with two thirds of the fines handed out to people aged 18 to 34, the vast majority of whom were white and male. Police also wrongly issued 39 fines to children aged 16 or 17, penalties that forces have now rescinded.

Police chiefs linked the peaks in fines to a combination of hot weather – with some 400 a day on Good Friday and Easter Saturday – and young people seeking to enjoy themselves.

Dept Chief Constable Sara Glen, NPCC lead for charging, said: “[Lancashire police] needed to issue 380 fines – very much due to barbecues [and] house parties. Blackpool, beaches; you’ve got a lot going on there.”