Coronavirus: Police and military will patrol south coast to uphold lockdown

Police forces across the country used a range of tactics to keep people off the streets, away from beaches and out of parks yesterday, including monitoring shopping aisles and launching boat patrols off the south coast.

Downing Street has warned the police against “heavy-handed” lockdown tactics after one officer tweeted that they were policing supermarkets for people with “non-essential” items. The message came as a video showed an officer in South Yorkshire rebuking a family for letting their young children play on the front lawn.

Surrey police deployed what they called a “sky talk” drone to break up a group of 30 people in Walton-on-Thames. The drone plays a pre-recorded message through a loudspeaker: “Attention this is a police message. You are gathering in breach of government guidelines to stay at home in response to the coronavirus. You are putting lives at risk. Please disperse immediately and return home.”

Warnings that officers would stop those venturing out over the bank holiday weekend led to the roads in popular tourist areas being very quiet on Good Friday, when drivers would normally head for the coast and national parks.

A Cambridgeshire police tweet said that officers had visited a Tesco shop on patrol and that “the non-essential aisles were empty”. The tweet prompted outrage from social media users who said that the law did not ban the purchase of non-essential goods.

Downing Street has said that shops that are allowed to remain open during lockdown were free to sell whatever they had in stock. Asked about the idea of officers patrolling aisles to see what people are buying, the prime minister’s spokesman said: “We set out a list of shops which could remain open and if the shops are on that list then they are free to sell whatever they have in stock.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said officers were not patrolling to check queues for social distancing because shops had their own security staff. He said that they would only go to shops in an emergency or at the request of staff.

Cambridgeshire police said in a follow-up post that the original tweet had been made by an “over-exuberant officer”. It said: “The force position, in line with national guidance, is that we are not monitoring what people are buying.” The officer’s initial post has been deleted. In South Yorkshire the police apologised after a viral video showed an officer telling off a family in Eastwood, Rotherham, for letting their children play on the lawn. It said that the encounter had been “well intentioned but ill informed”.

The police in Durham told cyclists in a tweet: “If you haven’t got blue lights on your bike, you probably shouldn’t be on the roads this weekend,” prompting one response that said: “Errrm, cycling is a form of exercise.”

In Brighton police officers patrolled the waterfront, giving messages via PA system to deter visitors. Council officials in Bournemouth taped off seafront seats, while in North Tyneside CCTV vehicles have been used to check that people are following guidelines.

Paul Netherton, deputy chief constable of Devon and Cornwall police, said: “We are working with the Ministry of Defence police this weekend. Their marine fleets from bases in Portsmouth and Plymouth will be operating along the Dorset, Devon and Cornwall coastlines ensuring people do not gather unnecessarily on beaches. They have Tannoy and can tell people to move on.”

In London, Camden council and the Royal Parks painted large letters on the grass at Primrose Hill that read: “Stay 2m apart, protect the NHS,” to deter picnickers and other social gatherings.

In Wales the police set up roadblocks outside tourist towns and beaches to prevent non-essential travel.

Shop owners in Lincoln have been advised to remove stock from their windows to deter looters. Traders on Steep Hill and Bailgate, proclaimed Britain’s best street by the Academy of Urbanism, were given the warning by the police after a spate of attacks. Crime rates are lower than normal but they were told that some thieves may be taking advantage of the quiet streets.

Two police officers were punched and a female officer, 21, was “badly bitten” in Rochdale as she tried to explain to a man that he should not be visiting other people. A man, 29, was arrested. Superintendent Richard Hunt, of Greater Manchester police, said: “No police officer should have to come to work . . . and be assaulted.”