Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last Monday people can no longer meet up in groups of more than six due to rising coronavirus cases. Under the new guidelines, people are encouraged to report rule-breakers and police are allowed to issue £100 fines to flouters. Home Secretary Priti Patel urged Britons to report incidents of people breaking the new guidelines to the police using the 101 number.
Now, senior police officers have told the Times their forces were forced to station additional staff on their phone lines to cope with a huge increase in calls.
According to the officers, many members of the public were reporting minor rule breaks, which has led to concerns officers may miss serious crimes.
A senior officer said to the Times: “There are discussions about how the 101 system can cope, and whether increased resources need to be looked at across the board.
“We don’t want a situation where people calling about COVID-19 breaches are blocking others from getting through about other serious crimes.”
READ MORE: Boris Johnson’s impassioned plea to nation: ‘Our destiny is in our own hands’
It comes after cabinet ministers urged the public to report people breaching the new guidelines to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
Ms Patel, speaking to Sky News, defended the calls to report neighbours if they flout the rules as important to fighting the virus.
She said: “I’m rarely at home but if I saw something that I thought was inappropriate then, quite frankly, I would call the police.”
“It’s not dobbing in neighbours, it’s all about us taking personal responsibility.”
Mr Johnson introduced the “rule of six” to curb the UK’s rapidly rising coronavirus cases.
On Tuesday, the Government reported a further 4,926 cases and 37 deaths.
The new figures take the UK to a total of 403,551 cases and 41,825 deaths, according to the Office of National Statistics.
Mr Johnson introduced new restrictions yesterday to help stop the rise in cases, including a curfew on pubs and bars.
Along with the new restrictions, Mr Johnson said in a televised address the Government “will put more police out on the streets and use the army to backfill if necessary” to help ease strain on police forces.
Chief constables and the police federations have dismissed Mr Johnson’s suggestion, and said it is not necessary.
John Apter, national chair of the Police Federation for England and Wales, said military is “not what policing has asked for and not what it needs”.
He added: “This is an ever-changing situation and police officers will continue to do an incredible job at adapting quickly.”
