More police on patrol in N Ireland as businesses reopen - Covid ambassadors can hand out fines of up to £10,000

As shops and sections of the hospitality sector reopened on Friday, Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd said public understanding and adherence with the coronavirus regulations is key to success.

Ambassadors, provided by local councils, are set to provide advice on queuing and ensuring safety across the Christmas period.

ACC Todd said the council ambassadors can also issue fines, which range up to a £10,000 penalty.

“Any individual penalty depends on the circumstances in which people are fined,” he said.

Speaking to the media in Belfast city centre on Friday, ACC Todd said the public can “expect to see more police officers in more places more of the time”.

“You will also see us working in partnership with local councils and their ambassadors to try and keep the environment as safe for people as they can and allow businesses that are open to conduct their business as safely as possible,” he said.

“The more help we can get in that space from all partners, to get that message out and remind people on a daily basis what the safety precautions are, we welcome that.”

The PSNI is running its annual public safety scheme Operation Season’s Greetings this festive season.

ACC Todd said it is not a normal year, which poses challenges.

“We’ll be seeking to flex our operations over the Christmas period to take cognisance of that, but we’re also very aware that we move out of restrictions and into a space where there are fewer regulations and more freedom for people,” he said.

“We want people to enjoy that freedom and enjoy Christmas with their families but we all want to do that responsibly because 14 people in Northern Ireland died yesterday and that continues to be a trend and if we don’t all pull together and help each other, regrettably those numbers look like they are going to get worse.

“We want to work with communities to be safe across Christmas, we know businesses have had a hard time and want to work with businesses as well.

“What we’ll be asking for is people to take responsibility for their own actions, to reduce all the contacts that they can in line with health guidance and where they do come into contact with policing over the Christmas period, to work with police to help keep Christmas safe for everybody.”

He added: “The vaccination programme is under way, there is light at the end of the tunnel, but if we don’t have discipline in the interim period, lots more people are going to die and the people breaching the regulations are going to be responsible for that so let’s not put ourselves there.”