February 16, 2021 4.31 pm This story is over 37 months old

Lincolnshire Police getting 250 COVID-related calls a week

40 calls a day
Lincolnshire Police HQ, Nettleham. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Lincolnshire Police receives around 250 COVID-related calls a week over alleged lockdown breaches, chiefs have revealed.

Chief Supt Paul Timmins answered a question about groups of young people congregating near the River Slea, in Sleaford, and breaching lockdown during a Facebook live Q&A on Tuesday.

He said police received around 40 calls a day for COVID-related issues and that the force does “go through each and every single one”.

“Where we get reports of those sorts of activities […] we do risk assess and have a proportionate response to them,” he said.

He said this did not just mean enforcing incidents but figuring out why they occurred — for instance “family set-up issues that might mean the children feel better being outdoors.”

This included working with partners such as local authorities or Trading Standards for advice and guidance.

Chief Supt Paul Timmins and Assistant Chief Constable Kerrin Wilson during the meeting. | Image: Lincolnshire Police Facebook

That way, he said: “We’re able then to provide a really decent quality service to that individual [and] can provide them with the right outcome rather than just saying sorry it’s not our problem.”

According to recent National Police Chiefs’ Council data the force issued 490 coronavirus-related fines between March 27, 2020 and January 17, 2021.

On top of that some 86 coronavirus-related fines had been withdrawn after scrutiny.