POLICE have issued 102 more Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) across North Yorkshire to people breaking Covid regulations, eight of which were issued in York.

Although this is 108 less than the amount issued the previous week, Superintendent Mike Walker, who is leading North Yorkshire Police’s response to the pandemic, said it is "imperative," that everyone maintains the collective effort to reduce the infection rate.

"We can all see that better times are on the horizon, that’s why we must keep going and not allow all the hard work and sacrifice to be undone through complacency," Mr Walker said.

The further 102 FPNs means that 1,662 FPNs have been issued during the third lockdown, and 3,555 FPNs since the first lockdown in March 2020.

Of the further FPNs, 54 were issued to local people in the county and 48 were issued to visitors.

The FPNs are broken down into five categories, 40 were issued for being outside place of living, 10 for outdoor gatherings, 29 for indoor gatherings, two for obstruct/contravene/fail to close business and 20 for gathering of more than 15.

The number of FPNs issued in local districts were eight in York, five in Ryedale, 12 in Harrogate, seven in Selby and 50 in Scarborough.

One of the notable breaches was just after 5pm on Saturday (March 13), when an online report was made to the police that a group of men were drinking together in a hot tub at a lodge in the York area. When officers arrived they initially claimed they were work colleagues staying together in digs, but this proved not to be the case and the five men were issued with FPNs.