SIX people were issued with Covid fines in Crewe in the first week of easing of lockdown restrictions.

From Monday, March 8 people have been allowed to visit parks and beauty spots for recreation or exercise, either with members of their household/bubble or with one person from outside their household.

Cheshire Police have urged compliance with the guidelines as the government announced today (Wednesday) that more than 25 million people across the UK have now received their first dose of the vaccine, 400,000 of those living in Cheshire.

Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said: "It is important to remember that the virus has not gone away and it is essential that we all continue to follow the current guidelines in place to keep everyone safe and to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

"While we know that the majority of people in Cheshire are sticking to the rules, we are still seeing a number of blatant breeches.

"Since the start of the January lockdown, our officers have issued more than 1,379 fixed penalty notices – Including 89 in the past week alone."

In all 192 Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued in the Crewe area between the imposition of lockdown on January 4 to March 14; it is the highest figure for fines in a policing unit in the county along with Macclesfield.

Assistant Chief Constable Sims added: "The rules are clear and our officers will continue to engage with the public and explain the rules that remain in place but when they are met with blatant and repeat breaches they will not hesitate to enforce."

Residents are being encouraged to still stay at home as much as possible.