MORE than 1000 fixed penalty notices have been issued by Cheshire police since the pandemic began, new figures show.

Statistics released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show the force issued 1,050 fixed penalty notices for breaches of the coronavirus regulations between March 27 2020 and February 14 this year.

The majority of fines were issued to people during the period when the tier system was introduced by the government in October, a move which saw different areas of Cheshire under contrasting restrictions.

During this period, Cheshire Police handed out 604 fixed penalty notices, which was almost three times higher than the number dished out during the first national lockdown.

Across the whole of England there have been a total of 63,201 notices recorded as having been issued since lockdown restrictions came into force on March 27 last year.

Cheshire has seen just six notices handed out to people for breaching face covering regulations, which is one of the lowest amounts across the country, while 11 were handed out to those failing to self-isolate on returning from abroad.

Ten fines were also issued to businesses who refused to close when told to or refusing to close during restricted hours.

Nationwide, more than 70 per cent of the fines were handed out to men, while almost half were given to those aged between 18-24.

The figures relate to enforcement activity by police forces and the data should be seen in the context of wider police activity to engage with the public to explain and encourage compliance with the new regulations.

The NPCC say police have recorded hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 related incidents, including where officers have proactively offered advice to people instead.

NPCC chairman Martin Hewitt said: "Eleven months on and back into a national lockdown, the rules are really clear and so it is frustrating that we still have a small number of completely defiant and irresponsible people who have no regard for the safety of themselves or others.

"We’re taking a common sense approach, applying discretion and judgement when engaging with the public.

"But common sense would dictate that someone having a party is well aware what they are doing is wrong and has made an informed decision to do it anyway.

"Our extra dedicated patrols across the country will continue to support those of us making significant sacrifices in following the rules by taking enforcement action against those who are not."