With Britain basking on what promises to be the hottest day of the year so far, a police chief has warned their job will be more difficult if England and Scotland take different paths on lockdown.

While the Westminster government has spoken of a “four-nations approach” to tackling the coronavirus crisis, there have been signs of tensions between Downing Street and the devolved administrations.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon recently warned she would not be “pressured” into “prematurely” easing her country’s COVID-19 restrictions and urged Scots to stick with the current advice.

It follows concerns over “mixed messages” to the public with reports Boris Johnson could allow sunbathing and picnics to be permitted in England from as early as Monday.

However, ministers have since downplayed this, insisting there would be no “dramatic overnight change” of the lockdown rules.

Cautioning against any divergence, Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone warned that policing would become more challenging if this were to happen.

“I think it would make the consistency of public messaging harder, people would be hearing different things when they listen to different forms of media,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“It would be harder than it’s been but I’m confident that the police would be able to respond to any differentials that the politicians decide upon.”

He also said policing the next phase of the coronavirus will be more challenging generally.

Mr Livingstone said: “Any easement or any change around that that has a level of distinction, whether that’s by locality, whether that’s by sector, whether that’s by criteria, age or occupation, inevitably adds a level of complexity.”

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