Police thank the public for staying at home

Officers from across the force have thanked people in Leicestershire for staying at home over the Easter weekend.

Health Protection regulations remain in place and, despite a very sunny four days, they say the majority of the public adhered.

Assistant Chief Constable Julia Debenham said: “I’d like to thank everyone for staying at home to save lives over the Bank Holiday weekend.

“Our officers were out carrying routing patrols and found many places throughout our area that we would usually expect to be busy, were very quiet. We’re very grateful that people are continuing to follow the Government guidance.

“We did receive a number of reports over the weekend of incidents where people were not following the Health Protection Regulations, for instance by gathering in public places or by having visitors at home.

To date, the force has issued 73 fixed penalty notices under the Health Protection Regulations 2020.

ACC Debenham added: “Our approach very much remains the same and we’re continuing to engage with the public, explain the need to follow the Regulations and encourage people to do so. If necessary, we will enforce by way of a fixed penalty notice.

“We, as a community across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, must continue working together in order to tackle the spread of the coronavirus.”