Across the UK the lockdown remains in place to curb the spread of coronavirus, with Britons only allowed to leave their home for essential reasons. These include food shopping, medical reasons, for one portion of exercise or to attend key jobs. This has meant significant upheaval across the country, with events cancelled, restaurants, pubs and cafes closed, and no socialising with anyone outside of your household.

With the recent spate of warm weather, staying indoors or confined to your home and garden has been hard on everyone.

Britons are allowed to walk through parks, spend time in their gardens, but not seeing friends and family has been difficult.

The majority have been following the rules, however, some have been seen congregating with friends, hosting parties or inviting people over.

If you see large groups regularly gathering and deliberately ignoring these rules, there are some actions you can take.

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How do I report a social gathering?

In response to reports of people flouting the Government’s guidelines – several police forces have implemented pages on their websites for reporting rule-breakers.

If you spot a social gathering, you are advised not to ring the non-emergency 101 number as it is especially busy during lockdown.

Instead, use the online portals set up by some police forces across the country.

One police force to set up a reporting service is Greater Manchester Police, who say “Only tell us about something if you feel there is a significant issue or serious breach of the restrictions.”

On their website, the force asks you to input the location of any rule breach in order for the force to deal with the issue.

Other forces to implement an online reporting service are police in Northern Ireland, Humberside Police, Lambeth and Cambridgeshire.

Typically these websites ask you to fill out a form with as much detail as you can, including the location of the incident, and this is then sent to be assessed.

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After being assessed, reports will either be followed up or police may decide not to do so.

People using these forms are urged only to do so if it is a breach of the lockdown rules.

Cambridgeshire’s portal states: “This may be a large gathering or a large group of individuals repeatedly ignoring the restrictions.

“Do not use this form to report minor infringements.”

For those who are caught breaking lockdown rules, there are powers in place for the police to issue fines or even arrest offenders.

People who flout the rules could receive a £60 fine, which would be reduced to £30 if they are paid within two weeks.

A second offence would cost £120, with the penalty doubling for additional breaches.

Anyone who does not pay the fine could be taken to court, and unlimited fines are able to be administered by magistrates.

If a person does not comply, the police may also arrest them.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “The prime minister has been clear on what we need to do: stay at home to protect our NHS and save lives.

“All our frontline services really are the best of us and are doing an incredible job to stop this terrible virus from spreading.

“That’s why I’m giving the police these new enforcement powers, to protect the public and keep people safe.”

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