FOURTEEN supermarkets in Oxford have been warned by patrolling safety officers to improve their Covid restrictions this year.

Oxford City Council’s Covid Secure Team is visiting supermarkets and shops across Oxford to ensure staff are wearing face coverings.

The team visited all 48 supermarkets in the city between January 25 and February 6 to check staff were wearing face coverings.

The majority of supermarkets were complying with the law, but managers at 14 stores (29 per cent) were given advice to improve on certain areas and told they would be revisited by officers.

Separately, the city council visited 33 other businesses in Oxford over the past fortnight. Complaints had been received about staff at the businesses not wearing face coverings.

City council officers gave all 33 businesses advice to improve on certain areas, and six were given formal warnings. The visits were supported by Thames Valley Police.

Louise Upton City Councillor and Cabinet Member for Healthy Oxford

Louise Upton City Councillor and Cabinet Member for Healthy Oxford

Follow-up visits to those businesses needing to improve have found almost all to be compliant with the face coverings law.

The City Council Covid Secure Team, formed in September 2020 is a partnership between the different councils in Oxfordshire, and is backed by government funding to make sure businesses comply with the new rules.

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Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for a Safer, Healthy Oxford, pictured above, said: “We were pleased with the level of compliance in Oxford, with the vast majority of businesses doing the right thing. But there is still a small number of businesses playing fast and loose with the rules – and the lives of their employees and customers – and we will take action to help keep people safe."