February 26, 2021 10.11 am This story is over 36 months old

Lincolnshire Police issue 200 COVID fines in a month

Police urging people to stick to the rules

Lincolnshire Police has issued 690 coronavirus-related fines since the start of the pandemic, an increase of 200 from last month’s data.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said in January that between March 27 last year and January 17, 2021 Lincolnshire Police had issued 490 fines.

This was in contrast to the figure of 576 given by the Lincolnshire force. It later emerged that this was because 86 fines were withdrawn upon further review, including one of £10,000 issued to a student for allegedly organising a party of up to 100 people.

The latest data was released on Thursday, covering the period between March 27 and February 14. This includes an increase in fines issued over face coverings regulations, with the figure rising from 9 to 27.

Lincolnshire Police Chief Inspector Andy Morrice said: “We continue to engage with the public to try and keep everyone safe, but we will also issue fines to those who choose to flagrantly breach the rules.

“The vaccination programme is going extremely well in Lincolnshire, but it is now as important as ever to stick to the rules. Remember that people are still getting seriously ill and are still dying.

“We have a roadmap out of this pandemic, and if people continue to abide by the guidance we will get through this.”

The NPCC data also shows that Humberside Police issued 196 fines since the start of the pandemic, an increase of 23 from the previous month.

However, Humberside Police said the total number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued by the force to date is 793, of which 212 were issued in February 2021.

The force said this is because the FPNS have to go through the ACRO process. The figure of 793 is before that process and the data released by the NPCC is after they’ve been processed.

Among the most recent fines issued by Humberside Police was to the occupants of a car that was stopped in Scunthorpe after a trip from Blackpool.

Police said the car travelled without reasonable excuse and it was stopped on Ashby Road on Tuesday, February 23.

Officers spoke to the driver and discovered that the car had made a non-essential journey. The driver and two passengers (two men and a woman) were each issued with a £200 fine.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Anderson said: “Our communities across the Humberside Force area have, in the main, readily complied with the new laws that have been introduced to limit the spread of coronavirus and I cannot thank them enough for their help.

“Their efforts to help protect the NHS and save lives are greatly appreciated by everyone locally.

“We’re continuing to engage with people, explain the issues to them, encourage them to comply with the rules and – as a last resort – to apply enforcement.”