“It’s really encouraging to see that the vast majority of the public are continuing to follow Government and Health guidance and are complying with social distancing regulations.

“We will only beat this crisis if we work together, and the fact that only 0.02% of the eligible population have been subject to enforcement action shows that most people are supportive of our collective efforts as a nation.  Our officers have no desire to enforce the powers they have been given, and our strategy to work with communities, explaining guidance and encouraging people to make the right choices is clearly working.

“This battle is far from over however, and how we navigate the next stages of this journey are crucial to the health and wellbeing of our country.  Police officers know how hard it is for communities to live in such a restricted way, but on behalf of the policing workforce, I would thank everyone who has helped us in our efforts to protect the NHS so far.  I would urge everyone to continue to hold firm, and together we’ll make our way back to the freedoms we desire and deserve.”