Cops warn Brits should expect MORE fines in new lockdown – and there’s ‘no excuse’ for not knowing Covid rules

BRITS should expect MORE fines and less tolerance from officers as there is “no excuse” for not knowing coronavirus rules, a police chief has warned.

Cops are able to dish out penalties of up to £6,400 and break up crowds under the new national restrictions announced by prime minister Boris Johnson.

A top police chief warned Brits that they should expect more fines as there is ‘no excuse’ for flouting coronavirus restrictions

John Apter, chair of the Police Federation in England and Wales, urged the public to stay at home unless it’s ‘absolutely necessary’ to go outside

John Apter, chair of the Police Federation in England and Wales, warned that Brits should expect to see “more enforcement” as more fines are expected to be dished out.

Under the measures, rule breakers will be hit with a £200 fine for a first offence which will then double to £400 for a second.

The penalties could continue to double to as much as £6,400 if Brits continue to ignore life-saving restrictions.

“It will be easier for police to have one consistent rule for people to follow across the whole country, which means it is easier for people to understand and comply with what is expected of them,” Mr Apter said.

“People should expect to see more enforcement as a consequence because there really are no excuses for not knowing the rules this time.”

But, the police chief warned cops could be branded as the “villains of the pandemic” as they bear the brunt of the public’s lockdown fatigue, Mail Online reports.

“But, where it is different from March is we now have a hardcore element who are against the rules.

“We have anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine protests to deal with and… crime levels have increased from March,” Mr Apter said.

He urged Brits to stay at home unless it is “absolutely necessary” to go outside.

Mr Apter said the record number of fines handed out on New Years Eve demonstrated that growing numbers are prepared to flout the rules.

Hundreds of partygoers were slapped with fines of up to £10,000.

Officers were pelted with bottles as they arrived at a 500-year-old church in Basildon, Essex.

They launched drinks and ice cubes at officers, told them to “f*** off” and chanted as they caused £1,000 in damage.

The yobs barricaded a door to stop cops from getting in while music blared.

Around 600 people bought tickets for £40 each, with strobe lights and DJ decks set up inside.

The gig started at 8pm and was due to go on for 12 hours – with some ravers taking cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine – but cops crashed it before midnight.

CRACKING DOWN

A source said: “It was a well-planned event. People were picked up in coaches from around Essex and no one was given the location.

“They had bouncers checking the vehicles and searching people for weapons before they came in. There were multiple ticket sellers but it wasn’t advertised online – it was all word of mouth.”

In Whitechapel, East London, a group of people were fined for breaking Tier 4 restrictions by playing dominoes in a restaurant.

The 12 were found hiding in a dark room when police went into the building.

In a video released by the Met, the owner says: “They’re playing dominoes.”

He first tried to stall officers, claiming only workers were there, police said.

The 12 rule-breakers were given fixed penalty notices while the restaurant owner faces a council fine.

Around 100 men and women danced and drank at a bash in Sewardstonebury, just a few miles from Epping Forest in Essex – which has the highest infection rate in the country with 1,321.3 cases per 100,000 people.

The tough crackdown comes just weeks after Ken Marsh, chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation, warned that cops would not stop Brits travelling over the festive period and households would not be faced with an officer knocking at their door on Christmas Day.

He said: “We won’t be knocking on people’s doors at all, unless there is a large group and noise, ie a party or something like that.

“But normal day-to-day households? There’s no way that my colleagues will be dealing with that.”

Mr Marsh previously branded coronavirus laws a “toothless tiger”.