Lincolnshire Police receiving 250 Covid-related calls per week

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 yesterday (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.

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On top of that some 86 coronavirus-related fines had been withdrawn after scrutiny.