Police federation slams government's 'haphazard' West Yorkshire lockdown announcement

The areas of Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees are subject to new lockdown measures due to a spike in confirmed coronavirus cases.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the new restrictions on Twitter at 9.15pm on Thursday, July 30.

They came into effect at midnight on Friday, July 31.

Mr Booth said: "Yet again we are struggling to police – and get to grips with - what can only be described as haphazard announcements made by the Government in relation to tighter Covid-19 restrictions.

"It is an absolute nonsense that we as the police service have not been afforded the time to put things in place prior to an announcement.

“Many people in Kirklees, Calderdale and Bradford will have woken up this morning to the news that they are subject to tighter restrictions on their lives. And it will be up to my colleagues to police these restrictions."

He added: "We must also remember that a lot of the areas subject to lockdown have communities who would have been intending to celebrate Eid and who will now be disappointed by this announcement.

"And it will be our West Yorkshire Police colleagues who will now be on the front line of having to manage the situation and stop separate households from meeting each other at their homes.

"We are still in the midst of a global pandemic, so we would ask the public to work with us on adhering to these new restrictions and remember we all need to pull together to keep people safe."