'Heed the advice': Chairman of police federation issues stark warning to public as coronavirus lockdown activated

Lockdown has been initiated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a speech this evening.

People will now only be allowed out of their homes to buy essential supplies, to exercise once a day, for medical visits or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person, or to travel to and from work.

However employees should only go to work where it is absolutely necessary.

The new UK measures come into effect tonight and will be reviewed in three weeks.

John Apter, national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said the measures were about 'saving lives' and asked the public to stay at home 'unless absolutely necessary'.

He said: "We are in unprecedented and uncertain times, with Government advice frequently changing as Covid-19 affects more people.

"Saving lives and protecting the public is the number one priority for us all and at this time of national crisis it is essential that we all come together and play our part in doing so.

"The practicalities of policing this lockdown will be challenging, but policing will do all it can to keep the public safe, but we need the public to support us.

"I ask that the public heed the advice and stay at home unless absolutely necessary.

"This will allow police officers to concentrate on keeping the streets safe and deal with all the regular calls we receive.

"This is about saving lives and supporting our NHS, I ask that the public gives us their support in this time of crisis."

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said he was already seeing "large amounts of sickness" among officers across London.

He said: "As you quite rightly point out, we haven't seen one of the 24,000 officers that we lost across the country.

"So it will be very, very challenging and very difficult for us with what's put in front of us.

"But we don't actually know what is being put in front of us yet other than we're going to be asked to disperse crowds, it's going to be a real, real challenge."

But he warned: "We will be dealing with it, but I'm not sure we will have the resources to be able to see it through."