Town has 30% of county’s virus fines

The majority of fines issued by North Yorkshire Police for breaches of the coronavirus regulations have been given out in Scarborough, the latest figures show.

As of May 11, the force has issued 926 fixed penalty notices during 509 incidents, 267 of which were given out in the local authority of Scarborough and representing 29% of the total.

More than half (148) of the fines were issued to local residents and the vast majority – 203 – were given to males compared to 64 issued to females.

The force has been taking an engage, explain and encouragement approach to enforcing the new legislation, and say they only use enforcement as a last resort.

Over the past weekend, officers gave out just 24 fines across the county despite being called to more than 300 incidents where members of the public reported breaches of the rules.

The force said: “On arrival, officers found that on the whole, people were observing the guidelines and regulations.”