Police declare rule breakers will be punished after Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant enter tier four
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Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant are now in the ‘high risk’ category along with much of the south east.
The move means those areas now face tougher new restrictions as the country battles a surge of coronavirus cases that threaten to overwhelm the NHS.
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Hide AdAssistant chief constable of Hampshire police, Maggie Blyth, has issued a warning to the public not to step out of line.
She said: ‘As we move into a position from this weekend with parts of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight being covered by four different tiers based on local authority boundaries as opposed to postcodes, I’d like to reassure our communities that our approach will continue to be to engage, explain and encourage people to comply with the regulations in place in their area.
‘We will use common sense and discretion to determine what is reasonable. However we will enforce where blatant breaches are observed.
‘We will not be preventing people from travelling from one area to another, but are working with ferry operators and partner agencies to ensure that the public is informed about the restrictions in place. Everyone must observe the restrictions from the highest tier that they are travelling from or to at all times.’
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Hide AdShe added: ‘We will continue to maintain Covid-19 related patrols, as required, in addition to our usual resourcing as we move through the Christmas and New Year period. This is to address any problems that are identified to us and ensure that people are observing the restrictions that are in place at the given time to prevent the spread of the virus.
‘Limiting the spread of infection is everybody’s responsibility, and not just down to the police, and we will continue to work with businesses, government, hospitality owners, local authorities, universities and others.’