Cabin fever is setting in as Lincolnshire Police receive 80 reported breaches of coronavirus lockdown in 24 hours

Police patrol in Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa in central England on April 9, 2020, as Britain continues to battle the outbreak of new coronavirus and the governement prepared to extend the nationwide lockdown. - Britain geared up for a fine long Easter weekend under lockdown with the authorities appealing to the public to stay home and observe social distancing. The new coroavirus has struck at the heart of the British government, infected more than 60,000 people nationwide and killed over 7,000, with another record daily death toll of 938 reported on April 8. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The force has also confirmed it has issued 50 fixed penalty notices to those ignoring the guidance.

Bosses say the majority of the county is sticking to the rules, however, warned that they would be using the powers available to them if necessary.

It comes as the country faces at least three more weeks of lockdown.

Deputy chief constable of Lincolnshire Police Jason Harwin, who is chairman of the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum, said so far the force had opted to focus on policing by consent, however, there were a number who were repeatedly ignoring the rules.

He confirmed that although no arrests had been made for breaching lockdowns, some repeat offenders had faced charges for other offences which have included spitting and biting officers. He said that so far there hadn’t been a significant number increase but there had been 80 breaches reported to the force in the space of 24 hours.

He said: “As this goes on longer, the cabin fever issue and isolation fatigue is likely to increase and we could potentially see an increase in people not complying. We’re working with communities to understand why it’s really important to comply and reduce the likely increase in numbers of deaths in the county where already the numbers are a lot higher than we would ever want them to be.”

He said the deaths so far in Lincolnshire were “tragic cases” and which had left loved ones grieving.

He said: “We’ve got to make sure those numbers, which are likely to increase being realistic, we do everything we can to make sure they don’t increase to such levels, where people following the advice could have reduced that likelihood.”

Chief Inspector Stewart Brinn said: “The lockdown has now been in place for some weeks and there really is no excuse for not knowing what the restrictions are. It’s vital that we keep ourselves, and each other, safe by sticking to the guidance.”

Gainsborough Police joined their colleagues over at John Coupland Hospital during Thursday’s Clap for the NHS.