MORE than 200 fines have been handed to people breaking lockdown rules in Oxfordshire this year.

Thames Valley Police chief constable John Campbell said at this point in the pandemic – nearly a year on from the first lockdown – people know the rules.

So, where officers might have been telling them to go home and giving them a second chance, they are now fining people who are obviously flouting the law without a reasonable excuse.

Mr Campbell said: “We are definitely seeing more fines than in the first lockdown.”

Oxford Mail: John Campbell John Campbell

From the start of the year to the end of the first week in February alone, police officers issued 212 fixed penalty notices (FPN) to people in Oxfordshire.

Across the three counties in the force area, 974 tickets have been issued in 2021.

That is already more than were handed out across the Thames Valley in the whole of last year when, between March 27 and December 20, 965 fixed penalty notices were issued for everything from not wearing a mask to people meeting up for parties.

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Responding directly to that group, Mr Campbell said it was ‘right’ that they were all slapped with a fine because it was ‘outrageous and selfish’.

But, he said, the fines are not means-tested and instead are a flat fee for everybody – as set by the Government.

Last year, the FPNs were upped from £60 to £200 to act as a stronger deterrent to people thinking about breaking the rules.

Adults (over-18s) can now be fined £200 for the first offence which can be halved if it is paid within 14 days.

For the second offence it is £400 and then it is doubled for each lockdown breach after – up to £6,400.

Large parties can also be shut down by police – with fines of up to £10,000.

The chief said that the fines handed out were mostly for people meeting up in big groups, breaking the rule of two for outside exercise and not having a reasonable excuse to be outside.

A handful of the fines were also for people caught breaking quarantine rules after coming back from a holiday, not self-isolating when they’ve been ordered to or businesses staying open.

Oxford Mail: Police in Oxford when the clubs were openPolice in Oxford when the clubs were open

He added that lockdown had dampened violent crime rates, which have dropped across the force area.

  • Violence with injury has dropped by 17 per cent
  • robbery has gone down by 37 percent
  • burglary has nearly halved (a 47 percent drop).

As a result, 20 percent more crime has been solved, Mr Campbell said.

He put the drop in burglary down to people working from home and burglars being spotted in areas because of the tighter restrictions.

But as lockdown eases – particularly the city centre nightlife reopening – he expects other crime to be reported more.

He said: “The night-time economy in Oxford has not been open at all over the summer and that’s a large amount of crime.”

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