UK police have been given powers to hand out an on-the-spot £60 fine – reduced to £30 if paid within two weeks – for people found to be breaching lockdown rules. However, this fine is doubled for each repeat offence up to £960.

Fresh data released by the NPCC covering the four weeks to April 27, showed that 8,877 fixed penalty notices had been issued in England, while there were a further 299 in Wales.

Nearly 400 of those issued the fines were repeat offenders, while one person was fined six times, the BBC reports.

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Men were committing the vast majority of offences – at least 82 percent in England and 76 percent in Wales.

And April 11 – a Saturday – was the worst day for offences, with around 550 fines being issued.

In a statement, NPCC Chair Martin Hewitt focussed on the majority of the population who had followed the rules.

He said: “As the latest provisional figures on the number of fines issued show, the vast majority of people continue to do the right thing, staying at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives.”

Mr Hewitt noted that the people issued a fine in England represent just 0.02 of the population, according to the figures.

He continued: “I want to thank people for continuing to follow the regulations – I recognise it’s not easy and that this is a challenging time for us all.

“I urge the public to keep going, keep following the advice: stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.”

The BBC highlighted specific instances of fines handed out, including one man who went to a friend’s house to dye their hair, while Greater Manchester Police said they stopped four young men who had travelled to the area from Yorkshire to get a burger.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Constable Sara Glen said that reports of anti-social behaviour had increased dramatically.

She said that reports had doubled to around 215,000 in the four weeks to April 27, up from roughly 106,000 during the same period last year.

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Regarding the number of fines issued to those breaking lockdown rules, DCC Glen said that there were some “troublesome spots” such as beaches or the countryside, when the weather gets hot, ITV reports.

She added: “We definitely have seen that when we’ve had hot weather but, on the whole, we are seeing as soon as officers arrive, as soon as they engage and explain, the vast, vast majority of the public are adhering to the rules.”

Mr Hewitt said that “it is inevitable people will get restless” as the lockdown goes on, according to the BBC.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday that the UK was “past the peak” of the Covid-19 outbreak.

He said that the public can expect a “comprehensive plan” to be delivered next week on how the government intends to restart the economy.

But he added that the country must not “risk a second spike,” suggesting a careful approach may be set out.

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