Coronavirus Leicester: Police demand ‘urgent clarity’ on how to enforce UK’s first local lockdown

Police in Leicester do not yet know what powers they will have to enforce Britain’s first “local lockdown”.

The health secretary announced enhanced coronavirus restrictions in the midlands city on Monday night following talks with local officials, but discussions on how to implement them continue.

The Leicestershire Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said officers were still awaiting confirmation of what their role would be on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s essential we get clarity from the government as soon as possible on what the public can and can’t do,” said chair Dave Stokes.

“We still wait for confirmation on what our colleagues’ exact roles will be in policing, and potentially enforcing, this ‘Leicester lockdown’, and what legislation our members will be asked to use.”

Other countries that have enforced localised lockdowns, including Italy, imposed strict cordons and roadblocks to prevent people leaving and entering infected areas.

News of oncoming restrictions caused many to flee while they could, and some officials have partly blamed that movement for spreading coronavirus more widely.

There are concerns over the timing of the Leicester lockdown, coming days before pubs and restaurants are allowed to reopen in England.

Police fear that people from the city will simply travel to nearby towns, such as Loughborough, Nuneaton and Rugby if they are able to.

“We were already concerned about Saturday,” Mr Stokes told The Independent. “In terms of public movement the lifting of restrictions is going to be huge, and it was going to have a huge impact on policing over the next four or five days.

“This weekend was already going to be a challenge for every single police force across the country.”

Chief constable Craig Guilford, of neighbouring Nottinghamshire Police, said the force would act on large groups travelling from Leicester.

“If we get any intelligence from Leicester such as a minibus or coach travelling to Nottingham then we will act accordingly,” he added. “British Transport Police will be doing the same.”

Leicestershire Police said it would respond to any changes to the Health Protection Regulations, which enforce the lockdown, and guidelines for officers.

“This is a dynamic situation and we will adjust accordingly, providing proportionate policing under the relevant legislation to help keep people safe,” a spokesperson said.

“We continue to encourage communities to follow the government’s guidelines.”

Speaking to The Independent ahead of the announcement on Leicester, a senior police officer said that “local lockdowns” would cause difficulties.

The president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, Chief Superintendent Paul Griffiths, said the potential for confusion had already been demonstrated by the difference between lockdown laws in England, Wales and Scotland.

“There are always real challenges where you create a boundary and there’s a different rule set on each side,” he added.

“Public behaviour could work around those challenges. Moving around for a night out could very well happen.”

He said that police officers would prefer consistency across the UK, adding: “We recognise that the government will follow medical advice and there may be differences [in coronavirus transmission] across regional areas, but in terms of policing it does pose significant challenges if there are different rules in different areas.”

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said the Leicester lockdown was necessary because of coronavirus transmission in the city and that legal changes would be made in the coming days.

He said that “in some cases” the lockdown would be enforced by the police, while non-essential shops will not be allowed to open.

“We are recommending against travel unless its essential but we are not putting that into law at this stage,” he told Sky News on Tuesday morning. “We will if we have to.”

Leicester City Council said enhanced restrictions in the city and surrounding areas were expected to last for at least two weeks.

“This means the city’s bars, restaurants and hairdressers will not open on 4 July as planned, and shops that were allowed to open on 15 June will have to close again from Tuesday,” a statement said.

Schools have been asked to close until the autumn term for most pupils and testing facilities are being increased.

More than 3,200 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Leicester since the start of the epidemic, including 944 cases reported in the last two weeks.

Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby suggested the new lockdown in the city should have been brought in more quickly following indications of a spike in cases.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: “The health secretary announced that he believed there was an outbreak in Leicester the best part of two weeks ago.

“Since then, we’ve been struggling to get information from them [the government] about what data they had, what led them to believe there was a particular problem here, and struggling to get them to keep the level of testing in Leicester.”

He added he has been trying “for weeks” to access data on the level of testing in the city and was only given access last Thursday, adding: “That’s a long gap, and a long time for the virus to spread.”