Extra police sent to Harehills and Gipton stop 139 people after lockdown flouting in parks

On Thursday, photos of people flouting lockdown emerged in Harehills - including people playing football and cricket in Harehills park in direct contravention of the Stay Home advice and lockdown laws put in place to try to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The pictures - supplied to the Yorkshire Evening Post - show a large group of people disregarding social distancing measures on the field.

In one photograph, a game of football appears to be being played.

Police quickly dispersed the group after arriving in a van according to one eye witness.

A neighbourhood sergeant for the area has since posted on social media. He said he 'shares concerns' from local residents and reassured people that extra officers have been sent to the area.

Since lockdown began, 139 people have been stopped in Gipton and Harehills, resulting in 10 people being fined for repeatedly breaking the rules.

Rules introduced at the start of lockdown state that people must not gather in groups with anyone not living in their household, and must stay home at all times, except to go out for food, medicine, key work, or to help others.

Sgt Fred Winster of West Yorkshire Police said: "As a local Neighbourhood Sergeant I fully understand the concerns of residents in these extraordinary times and indeed share them. Every time police officers deal with a breach of conditions they place themselves at risk. We are incredibly grateful to the overwhelming majority of residents who remain at home in order to save lives and protect the NHS.

"As a team we are also aware concerns have been raised regarding several areas of East Leeds. Nationally there have been some individuals breaching the legislation and this is noticeably pronounced in warmer weather.

"In no way is any area of East Leeds “business as usual”. We live and work in a very densely populated area which would normally see crowds of people and this has reduced to the point the streets are often eerily quiet.

"There will also be people quite legitimately taking exercise, attending the shops or going to care for others. There will be people present in locations containing essential shops and to allow social distancing inside many stores are rightly limiting the public from entering resulting in small queues forming outside.

"Since the legislation was enacted we have deployed officers to the area solely to respond to reported breaches. At Inner East we have generally responded to reports of ongoing breaches within 15 minutes and sometimes within 10 minutes.

"Some reported incidents are not ongoing but these are also logged and assessed for future deployment. I would strongly encourage any residents to report incidents to us using 101 or online at https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/. Always phone 999 in an emergency.

"In response to specific concerns regarding the Harehills area of Leeds we have increased our high visibility presence to reassure residents, provide advice and take enforcement action against those determined to flout the rules.

"As of today we have further increased this presence and resources have been taken from across Leeds to ensure the entire East area receives the assistance it deserves.

"We work on a principle of engaging, informing, persuading and then taking enforcement action but this enforcement action is robust. The majority of people who we find in breach never have to be asked again and have misunderstood the rules.

"While it can be difficult and time consuming to collate figures, since legislation was enacted in relation to coronavirus we have provide advice or given directions on at least 139 occasions in the Giptons and Harehills ward alone. Ten of these interactions resulted in fixed penalty notices being issued as individuals had not heeded previous advice.

"Once again, the majority of individuals nationwide and in each area of Leeds continue to obey the law with no police action whatsoever and we appreciate everyone’s co-operation.

"Thank You. Sergeant Fred Winster 6344"

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